Ghostwriter - RJD2
Garrus's time on Palaven had proven to be simultaneously joyful and painful.
Several of the crew members had opted for shore leave there: Tali, Mordin, Grunt, Thane, and Zaeed joined him, while the rest remained with the Commander. He offered them lodging at his family home and everyone was grateful for a warm bed and a quiet household (with the exception of Tali, who consistently noted how unnerving she found the lack of engine noise).
The look on Solana's face when he showed up at the door was priceless. In typical Solana fashion, she smacked his arm hard before pulling him in to rest her forehead against his. He couldn't help but laugh at her amused expression as he introduced her to the various members of the crew as they removed their enviro suits once in the safety of the house.
His greatest concern had been seeing his mother. When he stepped into her room, the lights were dim and she was sleeping peacefully. Three machines were in the room, attached to her through tubes in various places on her body. He approached her and saw that she had weakened; her body was more thin and frail than he had ever seen it. She heard him take a seat next to him and her eyes flickered open but their expression was vacuous as she rolled her head to face him.
"I know your face." Her voice was so weak he had to lean in closer to hear her. "I know your face, but not your name. I know many faces but no names."
It took all of his courage to speak. "My name is Garrus, and I'm your son."
Her mouth opened, forming a triangular shape. She made a great effort to sit up and prop herself up on the pillows. "I'm sorry, dear, but I just don't remember having a son."
"I've been gone for a while." His voice was barely above a whisper, and his subvocals displayed his agony. "But I've come to visit you for a couple of days."
"That's lovely, dear, but I'm so tired."
He gripped her hand. It was cooler than he remembered, but feeling it brought back many memories from his childhood. "Why don't I tell you a story while you fall asleep?"
She leaned back onto her pillows and let out a relaxed sigh. "That would be lovely."
Maintaining his composure, he retold the story of when he was young and they first visited the Citadel. By the time they were in C-Sec visiting his father, she was snoring softly, so he released her hand and quietly stepped out of the room, Solana's furrowed brow greeting him as he opened the door.
"It was good of you to come," she whispered. There was unbearable pain in her subvocals, and he began to realize just how hard it was for her to watch over their mother. "Mom is just getting worse and worse. She sleeps most of the day and barely leaves the bed, and she's never hungry."
Although it was predominantly a human gesture, Garrus felt it appropriate to pull his sweet, caring younger sister into an embrace. She gripped him back, hard. Roaring laughter rang from downstairs where the rest of his crew was gathered, a mockery to the siblings' suffering.
"Dad left, Garrus, to go to the Citadel a few weeks ago. He said it was for a few days for business, but I haven't gotten more than a few brief messages since. I don't think he could take it anymore, seeing mom like this."
Garrus chose not to burden her with the tale of him confronting their father. He instead continued holding her, hoping only to take some of the weight off her shoulders.
"While we're here, I'm going to take care of mom while you take care of the crew, ok? Take them around town, let them see the sights, and relax a bit yourself."
"Thank you," she whispered, her subvocals relieved.
The next day, while Garrus stayed at his mother's bedside telling her stories of his adventures on the Normandy, Solana took the crew out to give them a tour of Cipritine after Tali had completed her meeting. Palaven had never seen such a rag-tag group: a turian, a quarian, a salarian, a krogan, a drell, and a human. But everyone except for Zaeed had never been to the turian home world, and all of them seemed impressed by it. Grunt had even commented that he hoped that Tuchanka would be as impressive as Palaven.
Halfway through the day, Garrus received a message from Shepard.
G,
Hope you're taking care of the family - both your turian family and your Normandy family! Finished up on Alchera last night and almost at Aratoht.
Say hi to everyone for me. Make sure someone brings me back a Cipritine t-shirt.
Z.
P.S. Joker just said that he wants a Cipritine hat to match my shirt. Can't tell if he's serious or not.
Solana insisted they went home to check on Garrus and her mother, and when she found her mother sleeping restfully with Garrus working on his omni-tool at her bedside she forced him to go out with the crew for a few hours. He reluctantly obliged and took the crew to a tourist shop in the centre of the city, where everyone ended up picking up various cheesy baubles to tuck under their enviro suits. He fulfilled Shepard's wishes and picked up a Cipritine t-shirt and hat.
They met back up with Solana and his mother at home, and Solana and Tali worked together to whip up a feast. He had never seen the crew happier than when they sat together in a circle at the Vakarian table, pounding back drinks and exchanging stories about life before the Normandy, and occasional ones about life on the Normandy. He learned that Tali had quite fallen for a quarian by the name of Kal'Reegar on the flotilla; Thane had a son, Kolyat, and fascinating stories of his assassinations which he could recall with precise detail; Zaeed had more tales about fighting and mercenary work than anyone he had met before; Mordin had seen many interesting ailments and missions during his years; and Grunt was both an excellent drinker and full of snide comments.
The following day started very late after the rowdy evening, so the crew gathered in the Vakarian family room to relax and watch vids. Even Tallia Vakarian joined them, enjoying the colours and lights more than the stories. "They'll make a vid about all of you one day," she said, her smile blissful.
Since he hadn't heard from her that day, Garrus shot Shepard a message in the evening. When he still hadn't heard from her the following day, he sent a message to Joker.
Joker,
Any word on our Commander? It's been over 48 so I want to make sure all is OK.
Garrus.
Midway through the day, while the crew was in the backyard playing a human sport Zaeed called 'volleyball', Garrus's omni-tool pinged.
Vakarian,
WHY DID YOU HAVE TO LEAVE ME WITH TEAM BORING? Miranda and EDI have been bothering me about my flight reports non-stop, Jacob just walks around the ship grunting, Samara yelled that I was interrupting her meditating when I offered her lunch, and I haven't seen Kasumi once.
I guess that's why she's such a good thief.
Anyways, no word yet from the Commander. She'll be fine though, you know Shep, indestructible and all. Maybe I could swing by and pick you guys up early?
Miss you 3,
Joker
Garrus laughed loudly, feeling a renewed admiration for the pilot's sense of humour, and showed the rest of the crew the message before sending Joker a response.
Joker,
Sorry for stealing Team Interesting from you. Just to warn you, those will be our team names at the next Skyllian Five tournament, and Team Interesting gets Shepard.
Speaking of, I'd rather you wait for her; you know Shepard and she could need an emergency pickup after she blows up the planet.
See you soon boo,
Garrus
He couldn't help but tease the pilot with a pet name. Even though he missed Joker, Shepard, and the rest of the crew, it had been years since he had been as relaxed as he felt on Palaven. And Joker was right - Shepard was indestructible, he had no need to worry about her.
The following evening, after a day full of vids, various species' sports and card games, Garrus finally received a message from Shepard.
G,
Aratoht was an absolute disaster. We're on our way, EDI says our estimated ETA is 2130 your time.
See you then.
Z.
He felt a spike of nerves at the pit of his stomach. He hadn't forgotten the agreement he made with himself back on the ship.
The Normandy had become his home now, but he would miss Palaven. He was extremely grateful for the time with his mother and sister. Although his mother still couldn't remember who he was, Solana said that his time at home had been the healthiest she had seen her in months. But he knew that duty called; the Collectors were still very real. The rest of the crew had business they wanted Shepard's help with as well, and after spending so much time bonding with the crew members, he wanted to be there to assist in what ways he could.
At 2030 hours, after another feast and with a heart as full as his stomach, Garrus touched his forehead to his mother and his sister before departing. Smiles were bright on all of their faces. The Normandy was early and waiting for him when they arrived at the port; Shepard was standing by the air lock waiting for everyone to come in, exchanging handshakes and hugs with the ground crew returning to the ship.
Garrus was the last one back on the ship, shouting "missed you Boo!" to Joker as he passed the cockpit.
"How was home?" Shepard asked him as they walked through the CIC.
"Incredible. I wish you could have been there. Aratoht was terrible?"
"Have tea with me in the mess and I'll tell you all about it."
He followed her to the mess, where she bustled around, making dextro and levo tea and a plate of biscuits for herself. While she did, she inquired about everyone's experience on Palaven, as well as Garrus's family. When he finished answering her questions, he inquired, "What happened at Aratoht?"
"Well, I prevented the Reapers invading today, but I sentenced 300,000 batarians to death. I threw my entire moral code out the window to hold the Reapers back for just a while longer. It was a fucking disaster."
Garrus raised a brow plate at her over his mug. "Go on."
She proceeded to explain how she saved Doctor Kenson from the slavers before going to the Project base. Kenson showed her Project Rho before revealing her indoctrination and knocking Shepard out in a fight. She awoke two days later to find that the Reapers were only hours away from invading, so she fought her way through until she activated the Project and sent the asteroid into the Alpha Relay.
"So, clearly, I'm glad that I stopped the Reapers from invading..." she checked her watch, "six hours ago, but I have the weight of so many innocent colonists on my shoulders."
"You did what you had to, Shepard. Those colonists would have died anyways the minute the Reapers came through."
She sighed. "I understand, but it doesn't make it any easier to accept."
"If it makes you feel any better, I brought you back a shirt." He reached into his bag and pulled out the oversized white t-shirt, which read: 'My friend went to Cipritine, and all he brought me back was this lousy shirt'.
She threw it on over her civvies. It had a neckline fit for a cowl, so it was very oversized, but she still treasured the gift from Garrus. "It's a terrible cliché, but thank you."
"I got this hat for Joker. What do you think?" He held out a blue baseball cap, which read 'I love turians'.
"It's awful; he's going to hate it. I'm amazed you even found these things."
"Who's going to hate what?"
Joker was limping into the mess, an empty mug in his hands.
"I got you a gift on Palaven!" Garrus stood, removing Joker's SR-2 hat and replacing it with the new one.
Joker took the hat off and glared at it with his lip curled. "I'm going to have to get you back for this, Vakarian."
"I look forward to it."
The ping of Shepard's omni-tool interrupted the joking of the two men. She let out a long sigh. "Duty calls, Tali needs to speak with me. We all have jobs to do, let's get to them."