"Greetings, Mr. Vakarian," a happy mechanical voice chimed as the door to Liara's office slid open. The info drone hovered from its console to stop in front of Garrus. "I am relieved to see you well! Dr. T'Soni is at work with some communications—"
"I am right here, Glyph," the asari sighed, standing a mere six feet from the VI's console. "Would you care to check with Specialist Traynor to see if anyone needs assistance with the ship systems?"
"Of course, doctor."
"Thank you, Glyph."
Practically bouncing, the orb of light slipped past Garrus, phasing through the door. Liara shook her head before turning away from her communications console. She crossed her arms and looked to the turian. The look on her face reminded him of his sister on Palaven, when he said or did something she didn't approve of. A sort of "disappointed sibling" glare that came with crossed arms and a slight lean away to inspect him with slightly judgmental eyes. It was unfortunate how well he recognized the pose.
"I see Glyph is working again," he said.
"Yes, there was a time where it was uncertain, but he is intact," she answered in a clipped tone.
"And still cheery as ever."
"Would you tell me why you refuse to let Dr. Chakwas treat you?"
The turian scoffed. "That's what the face is about? Liara, I'm fine. Besides, I'm sure there's other people who needed her help."
"A Mako fell from the sky and erupted in flames right beside you, Garrus."
"You were right next to it, too. And you're just fine."
"I've allowed myself to be treated properly. Dr. Chakwas said she barely pulled all of the shrapnel from your body before you stood up and walked off."
"Well, that's clearly an exaggeration. There were bandages and medi-gel involved."
The furrow of the young (by her species' standards) asari made his chuckle taper off. Liara was an incredibly caring being, but she had more of a tendency to focus on her datapads and research than most people. He was fairly sure she didn't even notice he was avoiding treatment. Not that the thirst for knowledge was a bad pursuit, but it sometimes made her seem disconnected from everything going on. Then again, Garrus was sure Shepard would say the same thing about his mild to severe obsession with calibrating weapons. Old habits die hard …
He had taken to considering Liara a close friend over their years of knowing each other. Between himself and Wrex, several nights were spent in the cargo bay telling horror stories about fighting, weapon malfunctions, or omni-tool miscalculations, to the point where Liara would shudder and clutch herself in disgust. Garrus and Wrex laughed, enjoying watching a more innocent reaction to war stories. Of course, they would never tell her that some of them were completely fabricated, feeding off of one another to create an epic tale of disaster. Those were the most fun. Surprisingly, these stories led to several shooting discussions between himself, Wrex, Liara, and even Ashley Williams in the cargo bay. It was a way all of them bonded.
All things considered, he shouldn't have been too shocked to see that she was concerned for him. Wrex told him at one point that he kind of thought of Tali and Liara as the little sisters he never had. In a way, the turian could think the same of the two.
"Honestly, Liara," he tried again, looking at her with his most genuine expression. "I'll be okay. Not perfect, but I'm not dead either. We have more important things to worry about right now. If anything goes sideways, I'll let the doctor poke and prod to her heart's content, deal?"
The wrinkles in her blue skin smoothed as her expression became less severe. Liara sighed heavily, dropping her arms to her sides. "I apologize," she said quietly. "After everything that has happened these past days, I suppose I am worrying more than necessary."
It was understandable. Two days had passed since his discussion with Kaidan and Joker about taking the Normandy to the Crucible. His body practically shivered with restlessness as the systems continued to be checked and repaired. Though the crew was doing everything possible to repair the ship, it had taken much longer than he anticipated for them to be ready to be airborne. Tali assured him that two days was an impressive feat to get a crash-landed ship operational again. Yes, he had to appreciate how well it had been going, especially considering the alternatives, but it didn't make him feel much better.
Every moment they were stranded here was another moment that he felt slipping for Shepard. The probability that no one would reach her in time was pressing hard on his shoulders as he paced the ship, helping wherever possible. Distractions were limited for the time being, so he found himself imagining all of the possibilities of what could become of her. And he could feel his sanity slip a little more with each image. Keeping face wasn't difficult in the slightest, but keeping any kind of hope was becoming harder by the minute.
"Was there something you wanted to talk about, Garrus?" Liara's soft voice brought him back to reality.
"Oh, I, uh, may have a favor to ask." The turian felt he had used that phrase too much with her lately.
First, he asked her to use whatever contacts she could to locate his sister. Solana joined the Engineering Corps that worked on the construction of the Crucible after she and their father were recovered from Palaven. He was proud of her for having the capabilities to help, but his big brother instinct had him worried. Liara pooled together the contacts she could to put an ear out for Solana, and came back with somewhat positive results. She was assigned to one of the ships in the turian Seventh Fleet. The Seventh Fleet was a collection of ships designed to be a blockade between Reaper forces and the Crucible, which was disheartening. But, by the sound of it, at least half of the ships left the area when Hackett called the retreat. And the ship Sol was assigned hailed the Alliance as intact.
Next was confirming the location of his father. Rorik Vakarian travelled to Digeris after leaving Palaven to help with arranging the small civilian forces. The planet was relatively untouched during the Reaper War, but it took its hits, like every other planet. Digeris still stood with several citizens still alive, thankfully. Liara didn't have anyone directly on the planet, so she couldn't confirm if Rorik was there, but she assured the turian man that she would keep looking for alternative contacts.
An idea came to him late the night before, when he was pacing Shepard's cabin. Going up there had made him uneasy, but he had a feeling she would be upset if no one cared for Renegade (her hamster) and her fish. Personally, the idea of keeping pets on a military ship was ridiculous to Garrus. The woman was insistent on it, though, because she felt it was a way to distract her from everything, which is why she also collected model ships throughout their travels. He was running a finger along one of the models when something struck him.
"I was wondering if you had any way of contacting Wrex or Grunt," Garrus said hesitantly.
Liara paused for a moment. "I had given Wrex a communication frequency when we were in London," she answered. She turned to begin typing rapidly on the console behind her. "Though I admit I have not attempted to reach him yet."
"Is there any way I could talk to him?"
"Provided his omni-tool is active, I believe so. I will try to reach him."
Garrus walked over to stand beside her as her fingers continued to move fluently over the console's keys. He fought the anxiousness that was building in his chest.
"Wrex, can you hear me?" Liara asked.
He realized he was holding his breath as they listened. Nothing but silence. Liara turned to look at him for a moment with a slightly worried expression.
"Wrex, this is Liara. Can you hear me?"
Still nothing. Garrus's breath escaped him in a heavy sigh. For days, he never thought to worry about their krogan friend. But the reality that Wrex may not answer now weighed heavier on him than he imagined.
"May I ask why you wish to contact him?" Liara asked, typing once again.
"His forces are on Earth," the turian muttered.
"Yes."
"And as good a crew we have, there's really no telling when we'll be airborne. Plus, by the looks of the navigation, we're at least five systems for Sol … Shepard's been up on the Crucible for three days. I thought if we could find Wrex or even Grunt—"
"The krogan could take a ship to the Crucible!" Liara interrupted excitedly. "What a brilliant idea, Garrus."
"If we can reach him, maybe."
"We will."
The two stood in silence as Liara continued her work. Garrus distracted himself by looking up at the multiple screens above her head. It was unnerving to see so many of them dark. He had to assume it was because she lost equipment and contacts throughout the fray of the Reaper war. Actually seeing it in front of him, he knew it would take a lot of time to see how several planets faired, and for even more beings to get home …
His head snapped back to focus on Liara's console as a broken voice came to them.
"Wrex?" Liara asked again, her voice growing stressed. "Can you hear me?"
"Blue?" Wrex's deep voice came through a hiss of static.
The asari laughed, though Garrus knew she hated that nickname. Her relief had him smiling in no time. "Yes. Are you all right?"
"I'm krogan. Guess since you're talking to me, the Normandy is in one piece."
"Thankfully. But we've come across some problems."
"What's the matter, Blue?"
"Actually, Garrus would like to speak to you, Wrex."
"Garrus! Glad my favorite turian made it out." The krogan laughed hoarsely.
Garrus stepped forward and put a grateful hand on Liara's shoulder. He couldn't help but chuckle himself. "You know me, Wrex. I can never let you have all the fun."
"You and Shepard both. Hey, did she manage to punch a Reaper in the face? I was betting her some drinks that she couldn't."
"Actually, Wrex, that's why we were trying to get a hold of you. I'm glad you're all right, but I could—" He stopped, sighing heavily once more. On the other end of the comm link could be her salvation. For now, he only had to have hope. Actually, that wasn't the phrase. What did she call it once? No … he had to have faith, in their krogan friends and her.
"Shepard needs your help."