A/N - Thank you to everyone who reads, reviews, favorites, alerts this story! The positive feedback is wonderful and really does make my day when I get it. :) Also, I really do listen to the feedback. A (damn long) while back, Shini-666 asked for some Grunt and so I (eventually) delivered! I kind of adored writing for Grunt, so I suspect he'll pop back up in later chapters.
As always, my thanks to Stormflite for the beta and feedback. Enjoy! :)
The shock of the impact was almost worse than the pain. Vakarian's head snapped back sharply under the force of an armoured krogan head, and the velocity of the collision sent him crashing backwards onto the deck.
Krogans are armoured to hell and back, and built like a tank. It is completely unfair that they can move that damn fast as well.
Garrus stretched out careful hands along the deck plating he'd been knocked onto, breathing out slowly as he waited for the white edges of his vision to clear. He could feel the slight vibration of Grunt's footsteps as the young krogan approached him slowly.
"Vakarian? You alive?"
Give me a minute while I figure out the answer to that.
With a low groan, Garrus dragged himself up into a sitting position and attempted to focus his gaze on Grunt. His sparring partner stood nearby and if a krogan was capable of being skittish, Grunt was looking it right now. Garrus was pleased to see he was keeping his distance, all the same. The turian had taught him that just because Garrus Vakarian went down in a fight, it didn't mean he was out for good.
Except for this time. Maybe. Probably.
Pulling himself to his feet and shaking his head to clear the last of the dizziness, Garrus squinted at his squad mate. "That came out of nowhere. Are we still just sparring, or is there something I need to know about?"
Grunt shifted his weight. "Your species is harder to kill than most others. If I wanted you dead, I'd bring a weapon."
It was the closest Grunt would ever get to an apology. Garrus nodded acknowledgement, and rubbed at his aching face. "Hmm. Guess you don't know your own strength."
He'd been working fairly closely with Grunt over the past few weeks, running him through a training regime in order to actualize the tank-trained potential built into him by Okeer. Hand to hand sparring with a krogan was always risky, but Garrus had learned how to do it right with Urdnot Wrex. While he'd been more than impressed with the newborn krogans abilities, Grunt's recent aggressiveness was starting to concern him. Krogans were just as capable of pulling their punches for friendly matches as turians or humans were, but today Grunt had seen his opening and taken it with as much ferocity as if he were in live combat.
Nor was it the first time Garrus had watched the young krogan react with a level of violence inconsistent with the situation.
Grunt turned his head to look at him properly. He sniffed sharply. "You're bleeding, turian."
Garrus lifted a hand to his left cheek and pulled away fingers spotted with blue blood. "It'll stop in a minute," he assured Grunt, shrugging it off. "I'm asking one last time. Something I should know about?"
The krogan shifted his weight under Garrus' level stare. "The tank tells me how to kill your kind. How to kill asari, salarian, even quarian. But they're just words. Sounds and pictures in my head. When we fight, it burns. Everything the tank told me starts to burn and I want to rip things apart. I want blood, Garrus."
Greaaaat. Bloodthirsty krogan on our hands.
Garrus sighed as he watched the newborn krogan move about restlessly. It looked less like pacing and more like watching a trapped animal in a cage. He enjoy seeing the kid freaking out like this, but part of his mind was wondering just what they'd brought on board. Could they trust him?
"Ease down, Grunt," he advised, putting enough steel threading through his voice to halt the krogan. "I'm sure it's something all the tank-born went through when they first came into the world."
Grunt turned on him, his unusual blue eyes blazing. "And if it's not? If there's something wrong with me?"
"Then Shepard will deal with it. We've got two doctors on board and the best AI in the galaxy."
"Thank you, Officer Vakarian," EDI inserted, her smooth tones filling the training room unexpectedly.
Garrus flicked a mandible. The AI was good, but he didn't entirely trust it yet either. His visor could track the rapid heartbeat of the krogan easing back into its normal rhythm, even as he watched Grunt's restlessness fade away into cautious stillness.
"Whatever's going on, we'll deal with it, Grunt."
He didn't say it, because he didn't need to. Grunt knew if it came down to it and they had no other choice, dealing with it would involve a bullet to the brain. Garrus watched him nod in acceptance and relief.
"You do that, turian. We're done here."
Garrus let the krogan leave, his mandibles twitching in thought. Shepard would not be happy if they had to put Grunt down or leave him behind. In spite of his recklessness, the Commander had a definite soft spot for their tank-born krogan. Personally, he'd noticed that the Commander had a soft spot for anything that was particularly dangerous and inadvisable to keep around.
Must be why she likes me so much.
Picking up a nearby towel and pressing it lightly to his aching face to stop the bleeding, Garrus considered his options. He'd kept quiet so far about Grunt's increasing aggression because he figured it wasn't that big a deal. But he'd never taken a potentially-lethal strike in training spars before, and that was a line crossed that Garrus couldn't ignore. Shepard had to be told.
Because there was no way in hell Garrus was letting her risk herself – or the mission – on an unstable squad member.
By the time he made it up to Shepard's cabin, they were only an hour away from Bekenstein and he was a little nervous about disturbing her when she'd be prepping for the mission. Garrus was still not happy about Kasumi being her only backup, but Shepard had been damn insistent that it wasn't going to be a problem.
The door opened before him and Garrus found himself blinking in shock at a dramatically altered Commander Shepard. She smiled a cheerful welcome and stepped back to let him enter.
"Shepard?" Garrus asked uncertainly, looking her over in confusion.
Gone was the armor; gone were the military lines of her ship board uniform. His gaze fluttered over the sight of his Commander in something small, sleek and black, unsure of where to look. Garrus dropped his gaze down, spotted her bare feet – so many toes! – and snapped back up to her face in confusion. He'd obviously interrupted her.
"Get your ass inside, Vakarian. I could use a little help with this."
Garrus moved cautiously into the cabin, watching as she crossed the room bare foot to pick something silver up from her bed. He remained hovering at the top of the stairs, waiting for his brain to catch up enough to say something. Anything.
Any minute now. Come on, Vakarian.
"What ... is this?" the turian managed.
Damn her, she didn't even have the grace to look uncomfortable. Shepard grinned up at him and shrugged shoulders that were pale and bare under the sleek black lines of her dress.
"Kasumi doesn't like doing things the old fashioned way. No walking in and shooting things up. Personally, I think she just can't do anything without being sneaky about it."
Garrus felt his mandibles twitch sharply and hoped it would be taken for a smile. "She's a thief. It's a failing they all seem to have, and one of the reasons they all slip up in the end."
He didn't trust thieves, though he was warming up to Kasumi. But the mission parameters here were a little too loose for his liking and if things went south... Garrus slanted his gaze down over her speculatively as he stepped carefully down to where she stood, barefoot and unarmored.
Shepard winked at him and threw something in his direction.
His hands closed instinctively around a silver half-disc necklace. Garrus held it up cautiously between two fingers, his head tilted as he studied it. When he looked up again, Shepard was standing directly in front of him, turning so that her back was facing him.
"I spent five minutes fiddling with the clasp before you got here. Help me get the damn thing on, and if you have anything to say about the outfit, just remember that I know where Tali keeps her shotgun."
That drew a genuine chuckle from him, and he gave the clasp of the necklace a careful look. "Hmm."
Can't be too hard. I've field stripped a geth plasma rifle.
Garrus tentatively lowered the disc in front of his Commander's face, letting her adjust its placement with one hand, while the other held her hair out of the way.
Not surprisingly, the edge of his talon grazed the back of her neck as he worked the delicate clasp and Garrus froze for a moment. A thin pink line appeared on her neck, but no blood rose to indicate he'd broken the skin. Nor did Shepard flinch or react, although that didn't surprise him.
Human skin is tougher than it looks, he decided just as the clasp slid into place. With a satisfied noise, Garrus stepped back and watched her turn to face him again. The silver disc at her throat caught the light and refracted it in a distracting manner. Presumably another loan from Kasumi. The only thing he'd seen Shepard wear around her throat was her dog tags.
"This feels wrong," Garrus admitted. "You going in without weapons, or armor or backup."
When he looked her over, she seemed delicate. Pale and soft, all wrapped up in black silk. It was so not Commander Shepard that he thought his brain was about to implode until he managed to drag his gaze back up to eye level. For the first time since entering her cabin, Garrus met her gaze.
The look there was pure Shepard. Dangerous. Deadly. Tension eased out of him in a low sigh, and Garrus knew if their enemies ignored the dress, they'd spot her for what she was immediately.
"Who says I'm not armed?' Shepard replied sleekly.
Okay, so she had her biotics, but the smugness in her expression... The confidence in her stance... It roused all his old cop instincts and Garrus narrowed his eyes at her with sudden suspicion. She definitely had a gun on her somewhere. He flicked his gaze over her again, appraising the human curves and lines of her body intently. She was still barefoot, legs bare from the knees down, arms completely bare. He couldn't see where she could hide a spare thermal clip, let alone an entire weapon.
"Alright, I give up. Where the hell is it?" Garrus demanded eventually.
Damn if her eyes didn't just sparkle pure innocence back at him. Shepard's grin widened, and she held her arms out invitingly. "Wanna frisk me, Officer Vakarian?"
Garrus stopped the laugh before it got free, giving a startled cough instead. "Damn, Shepard. They're not going to know what hit them. Are you sure I can't come along?"
"I don't think Kasumi has a dress in your size."
She grabbed a pair of shoes that had been sitting by the bed, dropping onto its edge so she could pull them on. They were nothing like her usual combat boots. This was the kind of pointless, spike-heeled debacle that was so popular amongst the Citadel's asari population.
Garrus studied them dubiously. "Can you run in those things?"
He watched her slide first one foot, then the other into the shoes, before standing cautiously to check her balance. Shepard gave a one-shouldered shrug and smiled ruefully. "Probably not, but I can always ditch them if I have to." Now dressed and - apparently - armed, Shepard turned her entire attention on him. "So what's up, big guy? I'm sure you didn't come here just to watch me get dressed."
Maybe not, but it sure was interesting.
There was a wicked glint in her eyes, and Garrus knew better than to rise to the bait when she was teasing. Clearing his throat, he turned his head slightly; just enough to bring into sight the bruise darkening his left side. "I'm concerned about Grunt. He got a little feisty in our training session."
He watched the cheerful smile vanish into a stern frown. Shepard moved closer, reaching out one bare hand to touch his jaw lightly. He could tell she was being careful as she turned his face slightly to get a better view, and it didn't exactly hurt... Garrus blinked down at her in surprise. As a rule, Shepard wasn't overly tactile. Except, lately, with him.
"What the hell happened? It looks like he head-butted you halfway into the deck."
"Ahhh. You make it sound so much less manly that way," Garrus complained, as she dropped her hand back. She switched instantly to 'Commander', dropping one hip and crossing her arms, and it didn't matter that she was in a tiny scrap of a dress. She was Commander Shepard, and the fact that she could fling him across the length of the room with her biotics was in no way the reason she was so dangerous. It was that mind, working sharply behind that intense gaze, and Garrus had to force himself not to look away while she considered the implications.
Eventually she sighed, and her shoulders dropped. "Dammit. Garrus, I'm sorry. I'm starting to think I should have left him in the tank."
It wasn't what he'd expected, but that wasn't an unusual sensation with her. "Not your fault. I should have recognized he was losing control and ended the session sooner. He's been managing fairly well lately, I thought he could keep it in check." Garrus shrugged regretfully. "I misread the situation."
Shepard shook her head. "He would have killed anyone else with that kind of force. You know that."
That's why I don't let him spar with anyone else.
"He thinks there's something wrong with him. I'd like Mordin and Dr Chakwas to give him a once-over," Garrus suggested, smoothly diverting her from his minor injuries.
She flicked her gaze over his bruised cheek and sighed. "Not a bad idea. I don't want my crew getting banged up even before they leave the damn ship. There's been enough of that lately."
He nodded agreement, the memory of Jack and Miranda's catfight after Pragia still too fresh in his mind. "Hopefully I won't have to over-exert myself by rescuing you today," he teased, letting the lazy drawl cover his own concerns. Maybe it even worked, because Shepard laughed in response.
"You won't get the chance to even the score today," she reassured him, stepping past on her way to the door. "Come on, Kasumi will be down in the shuttle bay already. Walk me down. You and Thane ready?"
Sending Shepard in undercover and with minimal backup made Garrus edgy. But if he had to take anyone as backup for a possible rescue mission, he was glad it was Krios. He knew the drell could handle himself under fire.
"We're ready, Shepard. You need us, we'll be there."
They exited her cabin, and the Commander paused at the elevator controls. Her eyes gleamed in the low lighting outside her cabin.
"I never doubted that for a second, Vakarian."
Garrus had disassembled a spare Carnifex stored in the Kodiak and was cleaning each separate component with a careful and deliberate precision. If he didn't, his only option would be to try calibrating the eezo core of the shuttle and Shepard would never stop teasing him if he did that.
He really hated waiting. Garrus had never been one for the support role, never one to hang back while there was a job to be done. In the turian military, he'd been first to put his hand up for any mission. In C-Sec, his reputation for reckless enthusiasm had been well earned. What it came down to was the simple fact that he liked being a soldier. It was what he was good at. The feel of a rifle in his grip, the enemy in his scope. There was no time for hesitation in moments like those. Everything was black and white and the universe was outlined in perfect clarity and it all made sense.
Of course, never more so than when he was going into battle with Shepard. There was something about her that brought out the best in him. It sharpened his instincts to a razor's edge, and Garrus found himself operating at a level beyond anything he'd known before. She inspired him.
And he damn well hated sitting here in the shuttle, knowing she was out there - probably getting shot at, because Shepard hated all that sneaking around - while he was stuck here, cleaning his guns.
"I find the recoil from the Carnifex too high to make it worth the additional damage it delivers," Thane commented from the other side of the shuttle.
Garrus blinked and studied the component pieces of the gun laid out before him. "The Carnie has a killer kickback," he agreed absently. "I didn't think you went in much for pistols anyway?"
He looked up in time to see Thane shrug in that strangely graceful way the drell had. "I use the tool necessary for the task. At times it has been a pistol. At times a blade. Once, an article of the targets own clothing."
"Uh-huh," Garrus drawled. "On the grounds that I used to be a cop, and I'm pretty damn sure at least one of your targets was one of my homicide cases, can we agree not to discuss your work history?"
But he was smirking as he said it, and Krios smiled faintly in response.
"Of course, Officer Vakarian. That was most inconsiderate of me."
Chuckling under his breath, Garrus began the task of meticulously and carefully reassembling the Carnifex.
"Does it concern you to have a criminal on board your ship?" Thane asked after a moment, disrupting the peaceful silence.
Garrus flared his mandibles and tried not to laugh. "Firstly, it's not my ship. And secondly... We busted Jack straight out of prison. Kasumi and Shepard are out robbing Hock blind as we speak. The Normandy was built by a terrorist organization, which half the crew belong to." He glanced up to meet Thane's gaze, chuckling openly. "Being an ex-cop definitely makes me the odd man out. Besides, I was a wanted vigilante on Omega."
"But not a criminal," Thane pointed out, that hinted smile touching his lips again. "You cannot commit crimes in a place with no laws."
Waving the piercing mod in his grip dismissively, Garrus drawled back, "that's just a technicality. Although if I were you, I'd be more worried about Samara. That's a lady who takes her law-enforcement seriously."
"Mmm." There was a creak of leather from Krios' coat as he leaned forward. "Samara and I have spoken. She is very forthright about the nature and limitations of her oath to Shepard."
"Oh?" That had the edge of something significant laying under it, and Vakarian paused in his task. The last thing they needed was conflict between Krios and Samara, there'd been enough disputes amongst the crew lately. Straightening, he regarded the drell intently. "How did that go?"
There was stillness for a moment, as Krios returned his gaze steadily. Then both sets of drell eyelids blinked in rapid succession, and Thane was outright smiling. "You still say it's not your ship?"
Abruptly, Garrus felt uncomfortable. He knew he was more involved in the day to day running of the Normandy SR-2 than he ever had been of its predecessor. Back then, he'd limited his responsibility to making sure the Mako could take whatever new punishment Shepard wanted to dish out to it. This time round he was dealing with everything from training programs to Gardner's maintenance requests. Anything and everything he could do to make Shepard's life a little easier.
"It's Shepard's ship. I just help keep it running smoothly," he replied lamely.
It was an understatement and from the amused slant to Thane's mouth, he knew the drell recognized that too. Krios had barely been with them for two weeks, and he'd already spotted that Garrus Vakarian was more than just the gunnery officer.
"Commander Shepard is fortunate to have such a capable... companion," Thane commented, with all kinds of implication running through his gravel-edged voice.
It set Garrus' teeth on edge. "What the hell does that mean?" he demanded bluntly, curling his hand into a fist around the half-assembled gun. The remaining parts of the Carnifex littered around him were momentarily disregarded.
Thane leaned his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands lightly over his chest as he regarded Garrus thoughtfully. "There are few people in this galaxy who could inspire the loyalty and respect that your Commander Shepard does. Yet the task she has undertaken is dangerous and difficult for any one person. It is Shepard's own integrity and determination that make her the leader she is. If she were to lose herself to the mission, she would lose that which makes her capable of succeeding."
Listening to the sombre, low-pitched voice of the drell, Garrus felt a frisson of unease run down his spine. He knew what Thane meant. He'd seen Shepard starting to crack in the last few weeks. Ever since they left the Citadel, the lack of direction and clear goals had set her to chafing at the bit. Her increasing tension had been apparent enough that he'd stepped up wherever he could, taking over any task that would free up her time to focus on the big picture.
It was the job of the second in command, he supposed. But only now, as Thane regarded him so intently, did Garrus fully understand why she'd been so insistent he take that role on. Would Miranda have concerned herself with Shepard's state of mind?
"Siha is fortunate to have a man like you on which to depend," Thane added quietly.
The strange name shattered the moment, and Garrus glanced down at the weapon in his hands. Exhaling sharply, he picked up another mod and continued on with his task. "Siha?" Vakarian inquired as casually as he could.
"It is from the old beliefs of my people. A warrior of sorts. Do you not find it aptly suited to our bold Commander?"
He had a pet name for Shepard already? The damn lizard had only been on board for two weeks. Did Shepard know? If she did, she'd be unlikely to take offense. Being named for a mythological warrior had to be pretty flattering.
"I think Shepard suits her just fine," Garrus snapped back, slotting the extended barrel mod back onto the Carnifex with slightly more force than was strictly necessary.
If he looked up, he just knew he'd see Krios smirking. So Garrus kept his eyes focussed intently on the task at hand, snapping pieces back onto the hand cannon with the ease of long practice and familiarity.
"That is true. Although," Thane added thoughtfully, "she does make an impressive Alison Gunn."
Garrus snorted, because that was another source of irritation for him. "Kasumi should have known better than to cross Shepard's real history to establish the cover story. Giving Gunn credit for taking out Archangel just to boost her kill count was too risky."
"A lie is best concealed between two truths," Thane pointed out pragmatically. "Or would you rather the Blue Suns claimed that honor?"
He had a point there, Garrus had to admit it. At least Shepard was capable of taking him out. Maybe. But now he had a mental image of Shepard in that dress, and him in unscarred armor, back on Omega. Her felt himself grin a little.
Alison Gunn and Archangel. They probably would have made a pretty good team.
With a quick movement, Garrus snapped the last piece back onto the Carnifex and shot to his feet. "Doesn't really matter, I suppose. As soon as Shepard's done with this mission, Gunn will be as dead as Archangel."
Vakarian slotted the weapon back into the rack fastened to the wall of the Kodiak. He turned back to find Thane watching him with that same quiet expectation. The drell had been a question mark in his mind since he joined up, and since Krios was in a rare conversational mood today, Garrus decided to take advantage of it.
"Tell me, Thane. Why did you join up for this mission?" he asked, dropping his hip against the weapons rack and crossing his arms.
"Shepard has told you of my illness?" Thane countered politely. His tone made it less a question and more of a statement.
Garrus hesitated briefly. "You don't look sick, but she says its serious. Should you be putting yourself through this kind of stress?"
Krios didn't look at all concerned to discuss his illness. "I remain more than capable of functioning in combat. Doctor Chakwas monitors me daily and we have agreed that if I am not fit for combat, I will leave the Normandy." He shrugged in a nonchalant way. "We do not anticipate my reaching that level for some time yet. Kepral's Syndrome is degenerative but it progresses through several measurable stages. I will not fail you or your Commander in combat, Vakarian."
That was a relief, at least. But Garrus kept a puzzled gaze pinned on the seated drell. "If this disease truly is terminal... Why do you want to spend your last month's doing this?"
He couldn't help but picture his mother. He hadn't seen her for over two years, but he knew the nature of her disease. She wouldn't last out the year. All Garrus wanted was for her last days to be as peaceful and pain-free as possible. Thane's choice baffled him.
Krios sighed and held out his hands, palms turned upwards. "On Illium, I told you and Shepard that I had retired. I will take no further contracts. The only people these hands will send to Kalihira will be Shepard's enemies." His gaze lifted, settling on Garrus with disturbing clarity. "Your enemies. I have spent my days as the weapon to other people's wars. If I am to die, I will do so in the way of my choosing. Shepard's cause is a just one."
Garrus exhaled slowly in understanding. It was the same choice he'd made on Omega. If he were going out, he'd go out in style. His way, bringing death from above with the clear, sharp focus of a sniper scope.
He met Thane's eyes in silent recognition of the prickly awareness that had grown between the two of them since the drell joined. It was built of many things. The cop and the assassin, the paranoid XO and the dangerous living weapon running free on the ship; the keen and unspoken regard for Shepard herself. There were things tied up in that wariness that Garrus had tried not to understand, but he had a choice right now to hold onto it or let it go.
Vakarian nodded once and made the call. "As far as I'm concerned, having you on the Normandy improves our chances. As long as you don't put the mission in jeopardy, I'm happy to have you along."
He watched the drell relax subtly, leaning back into his seat and drawing his upturned hands back together. "We are brothers of Amonkira, Officer Vakarian. It is right that there should be understanding between us."
With his watchful eyes and careful observation, Thane had seen that Garrus was more than the gunnery officer and that was a good thing. It meant that Krios understood that while the mission was important, one thing mattered more in Garrus Vakarian's book: keeping Shepard alive.
Krios was right. It was important that they understand one another.
"Shepard to Kodiak, Shepard to Kodiak, come in!"
The Commander's voice filled the small shuttle and both men were moving immediately. Garrus was a tad faster at slapping down the radio control.
"Shepard, it's me. We're on our way to evac, what's the situation?"
He shot a sharp glance at Krios, and was pleased to see the drell already heating up the engines. A thrum under his feet foretold the sudden tilt of the horizon through the forward view screen as the Kodiak lifted vertically in sharp ascent. They had the coordinates of Hock's estate, and Thane had them on a direct path.
"I've got a fucking gunship pinning me down, I need some air support. The bastard has some kind of shields on this thing, and I'm running out of clips here."
Garrus clenched his hands into fists. He knew this mission would go south.
Shepard sounded tense, and he could hear the sharp staccato bursts of gunfire in the background as she returned fire. Ground assault and a gunship in the air, with only Kasumi as backup. Kasumi, who's strength was infiltration, not fire fights. His stomach twisted.
"We'll be there in under two minutes, Shepard. Hold on," Garrus answered her, keeping his voice as level and calm as possible. She didn't need to hear him panicking.
Keep your head down and don't get shot, Shepard.
Krios was already pushing the Kodiak to maximum velocity as they careened over the surface of Bekenstein. Garrus pressed his mandibles flat and shared a tense look with the drell.
"Faster, Thane. Go faster."
Thane nodded. The engines redlined and the passing landscape turned into a blur.
Less than ten minutes later, Garrus was back in the main cabin of the Kodiak, trying to force himself to stop watching Shepard. She was speaking quietly to Kasumi at the other end of the shuttle and the voices of the two women were soft enough that even he couldn't catch their words over the background thrum of the engines. Neither woman was seriously hurt, although Kasumi had been limping when he'd pulled her onboard, and Shepard was tugging at her right gauntlet as if something under the ablative plating was bothering her.
But she was alive. Seeing that gunship wheeling around towards her, mechs closing in on her position, while he was still too far out of range to stop it, was the stuff of nightmares. The shuttle had arrived in time for him to catch Kasumi's stunning acrobatics, disabling the gunship shields so Shepard had been able to fire twin missiles right down its gullet. Watching the thief's incredible aerial assault, Garrus had silently apologised for every doubt he'd ever had about her.
He didn't have time to look away when Shepard glanced up at met his eyes. His mandibles shifted into an attempt at a smile, but it felt uncertain and awkward even to him. Garrus watched her give the petite thief a pat on the arm, before Shepard headed back down to his end of the shuttle. She dropped tiredly into the seat opposite him.
"You think people will stop inviting me to parties after today?" she asked him curiously.
Garrus couldn't help the quick glance towards Kasumi, already lost in the graybox memories of her dead partner. "I think you need a better date for this kind of party."
Her small human mouth curved upwards at the corners. "Someone a little taller, with a really sexy rifle?"
"Something like that," Garrus managed, and her smile broadened briefly.
He wasn't an idiot. He knew his paranoid obsession with Shepard's safety went beyond what was reasonable for an XO, and maybe even for a best friend. There weren't words to describe what Shepard was to him. Thane Krios might have a whole religion to guide his life. Garrus just had those twin guiding stars: Keep Shepard alive, and finish the mission.
"Don't worry, big guy," Shepard reassured him with a weary grin. "You're still my favourite dance partner."
Unable to focus on anything but her, Garrus smiled a little and acknowledged that he might have a problem. But whatever else she was, or wasn't, Shepard was still and always his Commander. He might be a bad turian where it counted, but he was good for her. He would do what needed to be done, whatever it was, to keep her safe and finish the mission.
The thud of contact as the Kodiak came to rest in the Normandy's shuttle bay jarred his feet. Garrus cast a quick glance over her as she rose to her feet, and was reassured by the smoothness of the movement. No major injuries, which was almost a miracle given the devastation she'd left behind her on Bekenstein.
"Shepard, you'd better get up to the briefing room, pronto." Joker's voice sounded audibly tense as it crackled over the radio. He'd probably been waiting impatiently for them to dock.
"What's going on, Joker?" Shepard demanded. She gave Garrus a single, eloquent look as she passed him, and he fell in at her side as they left the shuttle.
"The Illusive Man is on the horn, and Miranda says he's got something for us. Something big."
Garrus was close enough to hear Shepard's sharp intake of breath. When he looked over, his visor easily picked up the increase in her heart rate, and he felt more than saw the momentary pause in her step. Then she was moving at a sharp pace towards the elevator.
"Got it, Joker. We're on our way."
"You think he's found a way through the Omega 4 Relay?" Garrus asked with a sudden surge of anticipation.
He could almost see the tension of the past week falling away from her. As she slammed a hand down on the elevator controls and gave him a quick grin, Shepard didn't look tired or anxious. She looked eager.
"I damn well hope so," Shepard replied with a fierce smile.
This was what made her who she was, Garrus decided with a kind of quiet pride. Shepard would do what she had to, whether it was helping a crew mate blow up her childhood hell, or steal back the memories of her dead lover... or lead a strike team through an unmapped relay to take out an alien menace threatening the entire galaxy. She'd do it because nobody else would and it needed to be done.
But he knew one thing for sure. She'd be doing it with Garrus Vakarian at her side, watching her back every step of the way.