The Linds building was bustling with foot traffic as usual when Garrus walked in. Morna sat at her desk, typing quickly on a simple datapad. She looked up when Garrus approached her, but her usual smile was replaced with a rather grim expression. The turian immediately felt the weight flip in his stomach when he stopped in front of her. Her usual healthy glowing dark skin was ashen and there were heavy lines along her forehead and around her eyes.

"Hey, Morna," he offered with the best light-toned voice he could muster, hoping she was just having an off-day.

"Garrus, Miranda said she tried to message your omni-tool …" she began.

"Oh. Damn thing shorted out on me yesterday when we were out on a recovery run. I was going to tinker with it today, but I thought I'd check on her first. Why? What's the matter?"

"Nothing critical. According to Kirron, she came out of surgery fine, but there's been a bit of a … problem. Miranda should be able to explain more. Hold on."

She began to type into her own omni-tool, holding her wrist up to her mouth.

"Miss Lawson, Garrus is here."

"About damn time," Miranda's voice sounded tense and, worse, angry. "Tell him to come up. I have some control. Make sure Kirron lets him pass."

"Of course." Morna nodded at him as she brought her arm back down. "Go ahead. Just you go through to the third floor, though, okay?"

"Morna …" Garrus began, feeling the muscles tense in his back.

"It'll be all right. At least I do hope so … Go on."

The turian man tried to keep from shoving people aside as he hurried through the first floor. Genuine fear gripped at his insides now, something he hadn't felt in years, maybe not ever. Taking the stairs two at a time, he clamored up to see Kirron standing close to the stairway to the third floor, his arms crossed and his face holding more irritation than concern.

"If that woman damages my equipment," he grumbled as Garrus came up to him. The salarian shot his dirtiest look at him as he leaned back against the wall. "Your concern is unnecessary. She's not in any danger. Actually, she's more apt to hurt someone else right now."

"What are you talking about?" Garrus asked, looking at him with as much irritation as he received.

"Were you not told? Your human barricaded herself in that damn room. By all accounts, I would say it's her first real experience with post-traumatic stress disorder. On the other hand, I've never had a biotic that threatened lives so quickly. Now my surgery floor has been shut down. Miss Lawson thinks you can help get it under control."

"What? Is she—?"

"As I said, she's perfectly fine. The surgery went well." He gestured a finger up to his temple. "The mental stability, however, seems to have had a temporary setback."

"And this is what you're doing to help it?" Garrus fought to press down his growl. "Pout in a corner hoping someone else fixes it? You're her doctor! There has to be something."

Kirron's eyes narrowed and he looked as if he was ready to give an even nastier retort before he sighed heavily. He closed his eyes for a moment before focusing on Garrus again. "The best I could do is to give her a sedative to calm her down, or at least put her to sleep until we found a way to stop the biotics, and she won't let anyone near her. I am not a psychiatrist. I'm sorry, but there's nothing else I can do." He nodded toward the stairs. "Miranda asked for you."

The turian shook his head and slipped by the doctor, fighting the urge to say something more. Right now, he had to focus on Shepard, and what he could do to help. He had his head tilted downward, focusing on each of the stairs as he mentally prepared himself. At the top of the stairs, he froze, hearing something. To his left, there was a younger female voice coming down the hallway. More than likely human, since there was no vibration in it, but definitely not Miranda's or Shepard's. Kirron had said the third floor was shut down, so Garrus assumed that meant no one else was on the floor …

"I really hope they're lying," the voice said, continuing on even though no one else seemed to answer. "I mean, she saved the galaxy and now she's crazy? Lot of good that does … All the same, if I manage to get biotics half as good as those two, I'll be in shoe-in …"

Down the stretch of hallway, Garrus turned to see a tall teenage girl (human, as he guessed), peering around a corner on the other end of the hall. A younger human boy was standing behind her, leaning against the wall and focusing on the pair of dirty sneakers on his feet. His dark brown hair was shaggy, draping over his forehead and growing over the tops of his ears. Garrus thought he looked a little nervous, but he remained close to the girl all the same. As he started to walk toward them, the boy's head snapped up. Blue eyes widened, the boy reached behind him and tugged on the tank top of the girl (who had continued whispering the entire time).

"—guess it'd be kind of weird to just walk up and say, 'Hey, I like—' What, Kale?"

Straightening up, the girl turned to look at the boy with a slightly annoyed expression. Her auburn hair was tied back in a loose ponytail, maybe in some attempt to control the endless curls in her hair. Garrus was terrible at human ages, but he had to guess her at about 16 or so. The girl cleared her throat and stepped away from the corner, putting her hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Sorry, sir," she said quickly. "I wasn't trying to get in the way. Just wanted to see how she was doing."

"She?" Garrus repeated.

"Yeah. Commander Shepard." She nodded down at the boy. "Kale found out about her and showed me. When the salarian dictator came downstairs, we figured something was wrong."

The turian had to laugh. "The salarian dictator?"

Grinning, the girl shrugged. "You come up with nicknames for doctors and nurses after you spend a lot of time around here. Kirron has a bit of a reputation."

"How did you know about Shepard?" Garrus looked to the boy.

"Oh, Kale doesn't talk." She ruffled his hair as the boy shied away from her hand, making a face. "I think he will someday, but not right now I guess. From what I gathered, he's from the Citadel, so he saw Shepard around the wards and stuff. Of course, almost everybody knows who Shepard is. Kale found out it was really her a few months ago, so sometimes we come up to see her. Well, not actually see her see her, I figure not everybody knows she's up here for a reason, but we just … like to know she's there. We heard there was a problem on the surgery floor, and once Kirron came downstairs, we slipped past him to check it out."

Crossing his arms, Garrus looked at the two for a brief moment. "You seem really honest for a teenager. Shepard said kids have a habit of trying to lie when they get into trouble."

"Honestly? You're a turian. There's no point in lying to a species that can hear your heartbeat."

That made him grin. "Good point. You two aren't hurt?"

"No, no one is. Shepard just seems … I don't know, upset? The pretty dark-haired woman, the biotic, is by her room right now, so no one's really gotten near her."

"All right. Why don't you go back downstairs? Tell Kirron you didn't know the floor was shut down. Might keep you guys out of more trouble."

The girl smirked. "Already have the story. Kale here was supposed to meet with his physical therapist about his arm today, but we got a little confused on the floor set-up. Before you know it, we can't find anybody, so we just had to wander around a little bit before Mr. Vakarian came to save the day."

"Impressive, but how did you—?"

"Know your name? The turian officer who ran off into the sunset with Commander Shepard to save the galaxy? A lot of people know your name. Plus, I have a lot of free-time to do my research." She patted Kale's shoulder before the two began to walk the direction Garrus had come from. "You just helped round out our story a little easier. Make sure she's okay? I don't think Shepard saved existence just to be driven insane by the salarian dictator."

Garrus allowed them to pass, looking after the two. Humans were so unusual … Bringing his attention back to the task at hand, he turned down the hall again to eventually get to room 45. There, Miranda leaned against a wall, her eyebrows knitted close together with her eyes closed and her arms crossed over her chest. She opened her eyes to see Garrus walking up. Letting out a sigh, she brought herself up from the wall.

"Thank you for getting rid of those two," she nodded toward the corner he came around. "I was contemplating reaving her to make her stop. That girl never seems to stop talking."

"You knew they were there?"

"Like she said, Shepard hasn't hurt anyone. Besides, I've kept my eyes on them. They haven't said anything about her being in the building so far, so I've left them alone. Kids think they're being sneaky when they really aren't trying."

Garrus shook his head with a laugh before turning serious, gesturing toward the room door. "Shepard's all right?"

"I'm not certain what happened. Her vitals were all appropriate when she came out of the surgery. As she came to, she started to panic and almost hit Laura with her biotics. Luckily, she was still partially sedated, so it didn't do any damage. We cleared the area to be sure no one got hurt, but Shepard seems really lost, and she hasn't been answering me when I try to talk to her. I also debated blowing out the door myself … but I assumed that would cause more damage than help anything."

Garrus instinctively dropped his voice. "Kirron said something about post-traumatic stress disorder …" Whatever that means.

Miranda nodded. "I could probably agree. Anyone who's done as much as she has, taken on so much responsibility, it'd be no shock if it just became too much. Something must have triggered her during the surgery … Could you go talk to her?"

"Sure, I guess I … just don't know what to say." He truly hated admitting that out loud.

"She trusts you, more than anybody. I think just being around her will help."

"Okay."

"The door's locked, so try knocking first. I'll be down the hall if anything happens."

With that, the woman turned and walked away, leaving Garrus to look at the door for a moment. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door.

"Shepard?" he offered. "It's me."

"Hey, Garrus," her voice answered, sounding hoarse and worn out.

"Hey, yourself. Everything okay?"

"Checking to see if I've gone crazy, right?"

"Shepard, I knew you were crazy from the moment I met you. It's not really news."

Her laugh was short, more a huff of air than anything. "Well, that's reassuring … I had a really nice dream."

Pressing his forehead against the door, Garrus focused on keeping his voice calm. The weight in his stomach flipped again at the sound of her voice. Something in it was hard, dull … broken. "Tell me about it."

"I was dreaming about the first night we were together … before the Collectors. We were both so nervous. Stupid, really …"

"I thought we agreed to never mention that night out loud again."

Another huff of air. "I never have until now, but I think, and apparently dream, about it a lot."

"Yeah … me, too."

"But when I went in to see Mordin, he didn't give me his lecture about 'tissue and fluid exchanges'—"

She stopped. After a few seconds, Garrus lifted his head from the door, pressing his hands against it.

"Shepard?" he asked, slightly panicked.

The slide of the lock beeped softly and she stood before him. Her eyes focused on the floor, though her left couldn't see it. Both of her cheeks glistened with her tear tracks. For almost as long as he knew her, Shepard had her moments of weakness. That was what made her human. She doubted decisions she made, became frustrated, lost focus, felt guilty … He knew about most of these moments, especially during the final stages of the Reaper War. Seeing the commander in such a way never made Garrus doubt who she was, though. She was still powerful, resourceful, slightly obscure in the most amazing way. Despite the struggles she had to face, every moment she made it through, and except for a short time after Miranda brought her back, never once did he see Shepard doubt who she was. He could see it in her eyes.

As the woman stepped away to return into her room, however, the turian felt as if he was looking at a different person. Her eyes refused to meet his, her forehead was creased, her lips were a thin line … Catching a hold of her chin, Garrus gently tilted her head up, forcing her to finally meet his eyes. The pupil of her right eye darted between his, clouded in some sort of internal battle. Steely and passive was the best way to describe Spectre Shepard. His Shepard was thoughtful and caring, strangely "bubbly" and laughing on the occasion. This Shepard that stood before him seemed so lost … and genuinely terrified.

"He, Mordin … he burst into flames," she whispered. "I watched him die. I watched so many of them die. And it's all my fault."

Garrus shook his head. "You can't do that to yourself. Everyone knew the risk, every one of us was ready to not come home. Shepard, you're not the Reapers. You didn't do any of this."

"I didn't stop as much as I could, as much as I should have." Shaking her head, she looked down toward the ground again. "Why am I still alive? How is it fair? I made all of this happen …"

"Yes, you made all of this happen." Garrus brought his other hand up, losing his fingers in her hair as his thumbs brushed under her eyes. "This right here: this building, this city, this world, this universe … Those people outside of this room, the ones you care about, the ones that you've never seen before, the ones that will exist in the future … all of it's because of you. The fact that they can exist right now in the first place is because of what you did, Shepard."

He let go of her to wrap his arms around her, tucking her head under his chin and gently pressing her to his chest. Quietly, he listened as his heartbeat and hers thumped softly, nearly in sync. In hindsight, Garrus never really thought himself capable of sentiment. He had to guess he was becoming a more terrible turian by the day. But here, with her, it didn't really matter.

"Even me. I'm right here. If it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't be able to hold you like this right now." After a pause, he chuckled. "That made more sense in my head, honestly. Maybe I should rephrase it."

Shepard's arms came around to hug around his middle, pressing her cheek against him. "No."

He sighed heavily, running his fingers through her hair absently. "You'll be okay. It'll take some time, but I know you will be."

One last huff. "You're a terrible liar, Garrus."