Commander Shepard exited the elevator and headed for the Main Battery Room. He walked with a spring in his step; it's not every day that your whole crew survives a suicide mission on the Collector base. The ship was in shambles, and would fall apart naturally if not repaired soon, but nobody died—that's all that matters.

He couldn't help himself from opening his omni-tool as he walked past the cryogenic pods, nearing Garrus. He opened up his achievement list and giddily read his most recent one. No One Left Behind: Keep your team alive through the suicide mission.

Below that were his achievements for surviving the suicide mission and saving the galaxy. He'd been lucky that he saved just before the suicide mission; else he would have had to recruit and gain the loyalty of his squad all over again.

The only thing that would have been better is keeping everyone alive the first time he entered the Omega 4 Relay. How was I supposed to know that not recruiting that Zaeed guy would cause Mordin to die while holding the line? Damn BioWare and their downloadable content...

Shepard entered the Main Battery room to find Garrus on his terminal. "Garrus, I can't believe we survived," Shepard said. "Well, actually I can because I already survived a first time. But still, that was crazy on the Collector base. I was gonna get a drink with Jacob on the Citadel. Do you wanna come to?"

Garrus turned away from his terminal and looked off to the side. "Can it wait for a bit?" he asked, jabbing his thumb towards the terminal. "I'm in the middle of some calibrations."

"How are you still in the middle of calibrations?" Shepard asked. "You've been in the middle of calibrations since you got on this ship! Do I need to get you a dictionary so that you can learn the definition of middle? Because middle implies there's eventually an ending."

"Shepard—"

"Do you realize that every other person on this ship has more dialogue than you?" Shepard asked. "The damn Mess Sergeant has said more to me than you have, and I've talked to him, like, three times; once while he was in the middle of cleaning the toilet next to me! Jack's the most anti-social person I've ever met, and I had sex with her! Mordin sang to me the other day. Let that sink in Garrus—he sang! I feel like, if he were ever to die in the future, I would have so many memories to remember him by. Do you know how many memories I have with you Garrus? Next to none! Except for that dirty joke—which I will admit I have used several times since you told me it—you have nothing!"

Shepard breathed deeply as he stared down Garrus, having forgotten to do so at any point during his rant.

Garrus rubbed his neck. "Shepard, I didn't realize you felt this way."

Shepard sighed. "I just... we never have any us time anymore."

"I didn't mean to hurt you," Garrus said. He put a sympathetic hand on Shepard's shoulder.

"I know," Shepard admitted. "But you work yourself death on these calibrations, and I'm worried that it's going to drive us apart."

Garrus smiled. "Tell you what, Shepard: how about I do go get that drink with you and Jacob. Maybe we can shoot stuff on the Citadel."

Shepard sniffed. "Do you really mean it?"

"If that's what you want."

"It is." Shepard matched the turian's grin. "You know you're my boy, Garrus. You know that, right?"

"Yes, Shepard." He patted the commander's shoulder. "Go head up to the airlock. I'll meet you there."

"Okay."

Shepard started back down the hallway leading out of the Main Battery room. When he got halfway down it he heard Garrus say, "I'll be up just as soon as I'm done with these calibrations."

"Oh god damn it, Garrus!"

A/N: Thanks to anakinpk200, Johnwolf234, Nuclearwullfs, and Gairi for reviewing since the last update... which this time was only a few hours since this chapter's original upload.

I know I said that I would only be doing one chapter a day to keep from overdoing these, but there was a while where I was working on my main story for the Elder Scrolls called "The Nerevarine's Return." Check it out if you have the time.

Shameless plug-in aside, I always hated that Garrus, who I felt was purposely intended to become your best friend in-game, had the least amount of dialogue of almost anyone outside the missions. I know Zaeed and (I think) Kasumi actually have less than him, but who cares about them? I never did.

Reviews are accepted. In fact, they're encouraged.