A/N: I'm going to have a bit of a Lemony Snicket moment here.

Let me start by saying that this story does have a relatively happy ending.

However, there are two ways that you can reach this ending.

1) If you're the sort of person that wants things to stay happy right up until the ending... I wish I had your optimism, but I would recommend skipping the next 6 chapters (and one intermission) and just read chapter 27 when I post it.

2) If you're the sort of person who wants to follow my vision of the story - through good and through bad - then continue reading. But I would highly recommend having a box of tissues ready, because it's going to get a little rough.

If you've skipped every song that I've put up so far, make sure to listen to this one.

Helen Burns - Flea

"Garrus, Liara, short range weapons out." Shepard's voice crackled over the comm as she whispered commands. The horrible screech that preceded a banshee spread ominously through the area, and Liara's grip on her Tempest increased. "Take out that banshee first, use warp and concussive shot on its barriers as frequently as you can, I'll hit it with head shots from back here. Move out!"

Ducking low, Liara jogged forward until she was under cover in a lowered area on the terrace. She glanced out of the cover to get a layout of the area: there was plenty of cover available, but once that banshee started moving cover became irrelevant. She heard a bang as Garrus used concussive shot, turning its attention towards him from her opposite side. It bent forward to let out a cry and Liara stood to use warp before peppering it with bullets, confusing it. It dashed toward Garrus but Shepard immediately hit it with a head shot, confusing it again. A wave of cannibals and marauders appeared, so Shepard threw a singularity into the group before Liara detonated it with warp, sending the enemies flying across the battlefield. The banshee was coming down on Garrus so both Shepard and Liara dove out of cover, hitting it with the might of both their weapons until it turned on Shepard.

Big mistake, Liara thought to herself. Garrus threw a proximity mine in the direction it was moving, exploding at its feet while Shepard pulled out her Suppressor and unloaded a clip directly between its eyes, sending it crumbling to the ground with a resounding screech. The team easily picked off the remainder of the enemies.

"Remember when these used to be difficult?" Garrus asked as the last Marauder fell at the hands of his Black Widow.

"You kidding Garrus, they've never been difficult!"

As she listened to them continue to banter as they approached the temple, Liara felt a surge of fondness for the pair. Although when they were on the SR-1 she would have never predicted their courtship, now that she saw it before her own eyes it felt... right. They both had unbreakable wills and strong consciences, and she could see in many ways that they needed each other. The strength of their feelings could be easily read in their eyes and their body language, and Liara knew that their love ran deeper than the oceans of Thessia.

Yet there was hesitation in Garrus's features, indicating regret buried beneath layers of loyalty and devotion. Before she could ponder it further, however, the Protean VI interrupted her thoughts.

"Indoctrinated presence detected."

"Commander Shepard."

Liara was adjacent to Shepard, who had been watching the Prothean VI. The commander closed her eyes and cringed at the sound of that voice before whipping around to face him.

"Kai Leng, you worthless scum."

The Cerberus operative chuckled, and the humourlessness sent shivers down Liara's spine. "The Illusive Man wishes to speak with you." He pulled up a hologram on his omni-tool, and Liara watched Shepard's lip roll into a sneer as The Illusive Man gave his speech full of lies and heresy. Shepard saw right through it and thoroughly dismissed The Illusive Man, resulting in Leng calling in a gunship.

The three of them dove into cover, and Garrus commented over the comms, "Can't even fight us on his own, needs to call in the heavy artillery first."

They dove across the field to avoid the turret from the ship while blasting the shields off Leng as he danced and somersaulted across the temple.

The tides of the battle changed before Liara's eyes, and time slowed to an agonizing pace. From Leng's omni-tool she could hear The Illusive Man shout, "do it, do it now!" The gun ship aimed for the pillars and the temple groaned and shook as it began to fall apart, Leng pushing Liara and Garrus aside while Shepard cascaded into the chasm yawning open at her feet. Leng darted forward in the chaos to grab the Prothean VI. Liara covered her head, rendering her blind, as chunks of dust and concrete rained through the temple. She heard two bullets whiz past her head to her right and the steady patter of Leng's boots as he ran to the exit of the temple.

When she surfaced from the chaos and looked to her right, her entire body became numb and time ground to a halt at the sight before her. Shepard needed to see this, now. Collecting herself, she ran to the chasm to help pull Shepard up with shaking arms that held the consistency of yogurt.

Without sparing the room a glance, Shepard sprinted down the hallway, shooting with her Suppressor at the gunship that was far out of her range.

Liara rested her hand on her commander's - her friend's - shoulder as she stopped her fruitless chase. Her throat felt so constricted it took her a moment to gather herself and speak. "You need to see this, Zoey."

And when Shepard turned around, the sight before her made her crumble to the ground and cry to the heavens.

"Garrus! NO! GARRUS!"

Zoey stood and sprinted into the temple, driven by unrelenting pain. She skidded on her knees until she was beside her turian, her hands skipping over his body to find a pulse while her mouth unwillingly cried his name over and over.

"Garrus, please," she whispered. "This is your commanding officer, get up now or I'll kick you right off the ship!" She used his omni-tool to release all of his medi-gel, but the evidence before her was glaring and unavoidable: although his body was so relaxed he could have been sleeping, he had sustained two gunshot wounds to the head, and the pool of blue blood surrounding him was growing wider and wider.

Garrus was dead.

She begged, over and over, to every god and to every spirit that she was living in a nightmare. She would wake up in her bed on the Normandy, and Garrus would be beside her, his mandibles flickering into the familiar smile as he whispered her name like a prayer.

She rested her forehead against his, the tears flowing out of her eyes and pattering on his face like a gentle rain. Sobs took over her body and she held his body as close to hers as possible as she screamed incomprehensibly at the top of her lungs.

She wasn't a religious woman, but unsure of what else she could do she began to pray into Garrus's chest between sobs. "I'm sorry, God, I'm sorry for all those people that I've killed. I'm sorry for sending my friends into danger. I'm sorry - so fucking sorry - for putting the man that I love more than anyone into danger. Fuck, I'm sorry for the time I stole that chocolate ration bar when I was eight and I'm sorry for the time I threw up in Vanessa's hat and blamed it on Steve. I'm sorry for skipping church and never praying. But please, God, don't take Garrus away from me." She began to shake him gently, the limpness of his form bringing a whole new wave of grief. "Please, God, please, I need him, PLEASE!" She was wailing now, her voice resonating eerily through the chamber. "DON'T DO THIS!"

Liara finally found her courage and approached Shepard, tears running swiftly down her own cheeks. "We need to go, Shepard," she whispered.

"I'M NOT LEAVING HIM!"

"There are Reapers coming, we need to go."

Her eyes wide and her lips trembling, Shepard's gaze fell on the exit, where two marauders and a troop of cannibals were slowly marching towards them. With a clenched jaw she was set in her resolve. She gripped underneath Garrus's cowl and knees and with all of her strength she stood, her legs trembling and her expression mad enough to strike fear in the heart of the bravest warrior.

"Radio Cortez." Her voice now had an eerily calm effect. "Tell him we need a pickup, and the zone is hot. We're going to kill these Reaper bastards and get back on our fucking ship. NOW, LIARA!"

Although her hands were shaking so violently she couldn't focus on her omni-tool, Liara managed to call the shuttle for a pickup. Shepard let out a loud grunt as she shifted Garrus into a fireman's carry and pulled out her pistol, sprinting forward with a battle cry before ruthlessly slaughtering the enemies. In her blood rage as they pierced her with rounds of bullets she holstered her pistol and threw them around like rag dolls with her biotics, squashing their heads under her boots the moment they landed on the ground. It was a terrifying sight.

The Kodiak pulled in and Liara jumped inside. The sight of Garrus's limp form over Shepard's shoulder prompted a confused glance from Cortez, but Liara just shook her head. They took Garrus's body from Shepard's shoulders before she jumped into the shuttle and commanded Cortez to rendezvous with the Normandy.