Two thoughts went through Garrus Vakarian's head as he jumped:
The first was that, in all likelihood, this was it. He was going to die.
The second, and strangely more pressing, was how incredibly small Shepard's hand felt inside his own.
It was a ridiculous thing to think about considering these were probably his last moments. If anything, he should be thinking about his family; about his mother, who would be sitting in bed, waiting for a call from him that would never come; or about Solana, and how strong she would try to act to keep their already broken family from falling apart completely; or even his father, and all the things they'd never been able to say each other. There were so many things Garrus should have been thinking of in that moment as he fell through the Omega sky.
And yet all he could focus on was Shepard's hand.
A small, sane piece of him rationalized this new obsession as a symptom of near-death mania mixed with the excess of medi-gel in his system. After all, it made sense logically that Shepard's hands were smaller than his; nearly everything about humans was stunted compared to his own species, and it only took a glance to see the easily notable size differences between him and her. So, really, part of him had always known her hands were smaller than his, technically speaking.
But there was a difference in knowing something to be true, and then knowing something as true. It was one thing to know his hands were naturally larger than hers, and another to feel that knowledge pressed warm against his palm; to feel the way her fingers curled around his, somehow fitting perfectly despite their differences; to feel how gentle they were as they gripped his own; to realize that, despite all the lives they'd saved and the countless more that they still held, Shepard's hands really were just as small and fragile as any other human's.
And for some reason that thought terrified Garrus even more dying did.
Shepard breathed in deep, bracing for the hit.
It came fast. One instant she'd been falling, the cold air cutting her face and Garrus' warm hand squeezing her own. The next she was smashed against the hard metal, her breath choking in her throat and her body clenching with shock.
She bent her knees and kept them loose to absorb the brunt force of the impact, landing feet down with her free hand spread out against to the shuttle to steady her stance. Her body jerked with inertia, dragging at her as it tried to roll her off and back into the air. She steadied herself, however, gripping tight to a protruding piece of metal as her suit's mag boots did the same beneath her.
Garrus slammed down beside her, mirroring her pose. His mandibles flared as he hit and his free hand shot up to clutch at his wound. The motion unbalanced him and, quick as a breath, he fell forward, sliding off the shuttle and into the churning air below. A flash of pain burned into Shepard's arm as it was yanked down by his weight, yet somehow she managed to keep her hold on his hand. She bit her lip and felt her forehead crease with strain as the muscles in her shoulder shuddered. He wrapped his other hand around her forearm as the shuttle turned beneath them, the sharp movement pitching him around as he swung to the side.
Shepard clenched her teeth and pulled. Once in reach, Garrus grasped the side of the shuttle and heaved himself up. He fell into a crouch beside her, mandibles twitching as he gasped for air.
"You okay?" Shepard yelled, the rushing air pulling at her words.
"Mostly." he shouted back with a tilted nod. He grabbed hold of the same metal she was using and steadied himself. "Now what?"
"I don't know, didn't think that far." Shepard admitted as she rolled her shoulder, wincing at the tingling sensation that still prickled in it. Garrus choked on a laugh at her words and she added, "Hey, we're alive aren't we?"
His mandibles twitched as he looked over the edge of the shuttle. "For now."
"Gotta take the victories where you can, Vaka-" Shepard began, cutting off as a muffled scream reached them. They turned their heads towards the front of the shuttle, where an asari woman had poked her head out of the passenger side door and was looking back at them. She shouted something, quickly ducked back in, and then slammed the door behind her.
Shepard and Garrus looked at each other.
"Well, you wanted a way down." she yelled, the corner of her lip curling slightly. Garrus stared at her.
A second later the shuttle dropped into a panicked dive.
They clung to the metal as wind and vertigo clutched at them. Shepard's hair whipped into her face, the stray strands pinching at her skin and forcing her eyes shut. Nausea rose up in her throat as they fell faster than she'd have thought a commercial shuttle could, and maybe it was just her but Shepard would have sworn they were even spinning a little. Not that she dared open her eyes to check, though. I'm going to be sick, she thought as her throat clenched, and then the wind's going to throw it back in my face. Or Garrus'.
The image of the battle-scarred turian splattered in leftover calamari gumbo – looking every bit like a wet cat, minus the flared mandibles – choked her, and she let out a strangled laugh. Another one followed, and then another, and then before she knew it Shepard was laughing harder than she had in years. Tears formed in her eyes and she finally opened them, her nausea all but gone as she threw her head back and laughed at the sheer ridiculousness of it all; here she was - the 'great' Commander Shepard, hero of the galaxy and zombie extraordinaire – clinging to some poor bastard's shuttle in the middle of Omega after jumping out of a building in order to escape the revenge driven 'ghost' who'd hunted her down on a damn shopping trip. And to top it all off, now she'd almost puked all over herself and her best friend.
Because, she realized as she turned to him and saw the look of absolute bewilderment on his face at her sudden fit of laughter, that's who Garrus was to her. Somehow, without her knowing, this patient, bitter, all around snarky alien had become the person she trusted most in the entire galaxy. And, as she saw in his mandibles flick and heard the low rumble that was his laugh join her own, Shepard appreciated him more in that moment than she ever had before.
"Sorry again for the trouble." Shepard apologized, rubbing the back her neck with a hand.
"Oh, not at all Spectre! We're just glad we could be of use to you." the dark blue asari said, her voice much calmer now, for which Garrus was unbelievably grateful for. The headache the asari's screams had given him when they'd first landed had yet to leave, and he leaned wearily against the shuttle while Shepard talked to its owners. It had taken them a few moments to calm down enough to listen to her, of course, but Garrus had learned early on that Shepard had a certain way of dominating a conversation. Throwing out the phrase 'Council Spectre' had also helped a great deal with soothing the two asari's shattered nerves.
"Definitely," the other one agreed as she took a step closer to Shepard, taking her free hand in hers and giving her a slow smile. "And if there's anything else you need – anything at all– I'd be more than happy to help you, Commander."
Garrus coughed as his mandibles twitched.
Shepard gave her a smile and casually pulled her hand back. "I appreciate the offer, but you've already done more than enough for us."
"Are you sure? We could give you a ride to somewhere safer," the asari continued, eyes half-lidded. "Do you have somewhere to stay?"
"We'll be fine, but thanks again for the help. I should go." Shepard said, giving them a final nod before meeting Garrus' eyes. He stifled a groan as he straightened up and followed after her. The asari had landed atop a public shuttle garage in a part of Omega Garrus wasn't very familiar with, and he looked around as Shepard led him towards a nearby console; judging from the buildings – which were shorter and wider than the towering one they'd escaped from – they'd managed to clear the warehouse district completely in their flight. Aside from that, however, he really had no idea where they were, and his eyes narrowed in frustration.
"What now, Shepard?" Garrus asked as she walked up the terminal.
"We still need those parts for the Normandy," she said, glancing over at him as she typed in a request for a cab. The wild look in her eyes as they'd clutched to the shuttle was gone now, replaced instead with the more familiar calm intensity they usually held.
"So what, we go back to the warehouse?" He felt the hastily patched wound in his side throb at the idea.
"And let you pull another stupid stunt like that last one?" she asked, brows lowering dangerously. "Just exactly how many rockets to the face do you think you can get away with, Garrus?"
"Well, technically that last one was a grenade, not a rocket." he answered slowly. "And it didn't hit my face either, so-"
"This isn't a joke, Vakarian." Shepard pressed, taking a step towards him. Her face was dark with anger, but he didn't back away. Nor did he fail to notice the tension in her body as she glared up at him, her shoulders stiff and her mouth straight. Garrus was walking a thin line with her now. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
"Of course not, Commander." he said, keeping voice calm against her sudden intensity. What had brought this on? "If I wanted to do that I'd just join up on a suicide mission."
Her eyes narrowed. This was when a good turian would buckle and listen to his commander, but Garrus had always said he wasn't a good turian. And as much as he respected Shepard, he couldn't bring himself to apologize for what he knew she thought was a reckless mistake. After all, she was still alive, wasn't she? They'd both seen how dangerous the galaxy was – hell, it'd already succeeded in killing her once – and someone had to be the one to watch her back, whatever it took.
For a long moment, the two stared at each other as each refused to give away and a heavy silence grew between them. It continued, stretching uninterrupted aside from the sound of their mingled breathing, until it was finally broken by the arrival of their cab. Shepard turned away as it landed in a free slot nearby them and walked over to it. Garrus exhaled, scratching at his scars, and followed after her like he always did.