A/N - I hope you all enjoy! Once again, many thanks to the awesome Stormflite for being my beta. I made a few slight changes after her last proofread, so any errors are undoubtedly my fault :)
Thanks to everyone who reads, favorites, follows and especially reviews! I LOVE reviews! :D
Shepard hefted the crate in her arms, balancing its weight easily as she stepped back into the Kodiak. The shuttle's cool confines were a welcome relief after the dry, arid heat of the turian colony, Invictus. The planet had seemed to leech the moisture from her as soon as she'd stepped into it. Shepard had quickly concluded that it could be called a 'garden world' by scientific classification only.
"Need any help with that?" Miranda called from the front of the shuttle.
"This is the last of it." Shepard dropped the box carefully to the ground, shoving it under a nearby seat and latching it into place to avoid any movement during transit. Behind her, she heard Tali moving into the shuttle as well, equally loaded down with supplies from their recent trip to the colony's main trading square. The poor quarian had been horrified by the Commander's willingness to pay full price and her impatience with any kind of bargaining, but Shepard was more concerned with getting them off planet and back onto the Normandy than in saving Cerberus a few credits.
With Grunt's agitation growing daily, she was anxious to get him to Tuchanka as soon as possible. Mordin's discreet visit to her cabin two nights previous, with a polite but concerned request to investigate the disappearance of his former assistant had only increased her motivation to get this resupply trip over with quickly. While Shepard and Tali restocked on the necessities, Miranda had made her rendezvous with the Cerberus supply depot on Invictus without any difficulty, and had managed to beat them back to the shuttle. They were only waiting on Garrus, Shepard realized as she watched Tali stow the last of the supplies securely into the Kodiak.
And it wasn't like him to be late.
On the heels of that thought, Shepard lifted a hand to the radio clipped behind her ear. "Vakarian, what's the hold up?"
Garrus had volunteered to play stevedore and collect the supplies of raw minerals, including the valuable eezo they needed. The mining consortium on Invictus maintained a secure warehouse within the settlement's commercial district, and although the colony itself was a bit rough and ready in its approach to legalities, the consortium was legit. Vakarian shouldn't have had any difficulties securing their supply of eezo.
But the long wait for a reply amped up her tension levels enough to draw sharp glances from the other two women.
"Sorry, Shepard." Garrus' voice sounded in her ear, and she knew immediately something was wrong. The flanging quality was more pronounced, a sure sign of tension. "I have a situation here."
"What's going on?"
Clued in by her sharp question, Miranda and Tali both linked into the signal. In her peripheral vision, she caught the concerned frown from the Cerberus agent and the uncertain tilt of Tali's head.
"Ran across some old friends who recognized me from Omega. Blue Suns."
In the background, Shepard caught a sharp, stuttering burst of noise which was instantly recognisable as gunfire. All three women moved in immediate reaction. Checking the Carnifex at her hip, the Commander gave a sharp nod at Miranda and hastened out of the shuttle, with Tali hard on her heels. She didn't have to look back to know Miranda was prepping the Kodiak for departure, and would be ready to evac them from Vakarian's location if needed.
"We're on our way," Shepard promised, activating her omni-tool. It flashed a map of the settlement up to her, tracking a path to Garrus' radio signal. She and Tali broke into a run. "Just hang tight."
"Thought I could handle them but these bastards have me pinned," Vakarian apologised grimly.
The frustration was readily apparent in the turian's voice. As she and Tali raced through the colony's broad walkways and sun-dappled streets, Shepard tried to figure out how anyone could have identified her sniper as Archangel. Had they missed someone on Omega? Shepard had been more concerned with getting Garrus to the Normandy's med-bay than taking out any lingering mercs, and not even the ruthless Cerberus agents had wasted time confirming all the bodies they passed were corpses.
Yeah. It was possible. And Invictus was a known meeting place for independent contractors, and even some of the larger merc organisations. But for someone to recognize Vakarian and get enough support to pin the highly skilled sniper in place... That told her one thing.
Archangel still had a bounty on his head.
Shepard swore under her breath as she and Tali approached the area Garrus was locked down in. Bounties on her crew were a real problem, given their activities in the Terminus Systems, but it was a problem that would wait for another day.
The sound of gunfire grew louder as they got closer. The deserted streets were a relief. Locals tended to get some distance once a fire fight broke out, but Shepard was grateful that what passed for local law enforcement on Invictus hadn't yet shown up to complicate things. The long boulevard they were on wasn't all that far from the mining consortium's warehouse. Shepard concluded that Garrus must have been identified before he got to the warehouse, giving the Suns time to stage an ambush before he emerged. Hampered by a sluggish carrier loaded down with eezo, Vakarian would have had difficulty evading them.
The stubborn bastard wouldn't think to leave the supplies, either, Shepard reflected ruefully, but with faint pride. You could always rely on Garrus Vakarian to get the job done.
Her combat HUD identified thermal readings that registered as probable weapons, identifying the heat signatures as potential combatants. Tali pulled her shotgun off the back clip, cradling it expertly in her arms as she and the Commander approached a pedestrian side-street cautiously. Shepard could hear the almost non-stop clamor of Vindicator battle rifles, and the high-pitched whine of at least one light SMG. The return fire she identified as Vakarian's assault rifle was haphazard, and had her gritting her teeth at the inconsistency.
Gliding carefully up to the edge of cover provided by the corner building, Shepard risked a careful glance down the long length of the street. In the half second she allowed herself before pulling back, the Commander spotted the carrier loaded with their valuable minerals, and the nearby doorway that her sniper had apparently taken refuge in. A semi-circle of batarians and one turian, all in the familiar Blue Suns armor, surrounded it.
Bastards had him pinned down good.
"Garrus, we're approaching your position from the south. I make five targets," Shepard murmured softly into the radio.
Vakarian gave a sharp laugh in response. "Seven. I've got two more up high, third story of that warehouse on the east corridor," he replied.
Damn it.
They were smart, and they clearly knew their quarry when they planned this ambush. Anyone who'd been there on Omega knew what Archangel could do with a single rifle and a good angle. Shepard nodded to Tali and the two of them pulled back from the edge of the side road, drawing back into the promenade to get a better line on the Blue Suns snipers.
"Keep the main group focused on you, Garrus. We'll deal with those two."
"You got it, Shepard."
She heard the sharp, rhythmic pulse of Vakarian's rifle increase as he returned fire blindly, keeping the mercs' fire directed at his position. Shepard had no concerns for his safety just now; he was a good enough shot with that targeting system in his visor to keep them from advancing on his position for a few minutes more, even if he couldn't risk exposing himself long enough to confirm kill shots.
"Shepard, I have a clear shot at one of them," Tali advised, her helmeted face tilted skyward, the shotgun trained steadily on a third-story window of the overhanging warehouse.
Grunting, the Commander veered right, sunlight lancing across her vision as she moved to get a clear line of sight for the other Suns sniper. It was tight, and not ideal, but Shepard didn't want to delay any longer.
"It'll do. Take 'em out, Tali," she instructed firmly, squeezing the trigger on her own rifle.
Tali's target went dark on the HUD immediately, while Shepard's rapid-fire burst apparently only winged hers. But he went down, and no further gunfire emerged from above, so that was good enough for now. She didn't plan on sticking around.
Shepard exchanged a look with her quarian engineer, and the two moved in unison to approach the loose grouping of mercenaries pinning down their friend.
From that point, things were almost textbook. She and Tali moved in from one end, while Garrus – no longer pinned by the snipers from above – emerged to open fire from the other. With long familiarity, they kept their angles precise to avoid friendly fire, catching the Blue Suns in the middle.
Clean and surgical.
In under a minute, there was silence again and five Blue Suns dead on the ground.
Emerging fully from his cover, Garrus met her gaze briefly. Shepard summoned up a relieved smile for him. "I can't leave you alone for a minute, can I?"
Vakarian tilted his head, mandibles twitching apologetically. "What can I say, Shepard... everybody wants a piece of me. Never knew I was so popular."
Tali snorted behind her faceplate. "If you were anymore popular, Vakarian, you'd be a smear on the sidewalk."
The truth of that drew the smile from Shepard's face. The thought of anyone on her crew with a price on their head worried her. The fact that it was Garrus... worried her more.
"We'll sort this problem out later," she decided firmly. "For now, let's just get this stuff back to the Kodiak and get the hell out of here."
Once Invictus was an hour behind them, and the dirt and grime and sweat had been washed from her body, Shepard found her mood much improved. They were on their way to Tuchanka, the Normandy was fully restocked, and nobody had been hurt. All in all, that counted as a good day in Shepard's book.
"Hey Commander, I hear you had a little excitement on your shopping trip," Joker greeted her with a grin, as she rounded the corner to the mess hall. "What happened – didn't they like your endorsements as much as the guys on the Citadel did?"
Shepard returned his grin easily as she dropped into the seat opposite him. At this time of shift, the galley was only partly filled, which explained the pilot's presence. Joker preferred to avoid crowds, where an accidental bump or knock could inadvertently fracture or break a bone.
"It wasn't my fault this time," she said. "Tali was the one bickering over prices. I just provided the heavy labor for lifting and carrying." Shepard glanced up and spotted Gardner approaching her with a plate full of something that smelled simply amazing. She took it from him with a grateful smile. Once she'd arranged decent supplies, and he'd had to stop finding ways to make food rations edible, Gardner had proven to be an absolute treasure in the galley. Judging from comments Tali and Garrus had made, his skills had even transferred to dextro-based cooking as well.
"Hah! Well, eat up, Commander," Joker advised, pausing in between mouthfuls of his own meal. "We should hit Tuchanka in about four hours... just in time for lunch at the Lagrange Point. I don't know about you, but I don't want to know what krogans consider a tasty snack."
"It may interest you to know, Mr Moreau, that krogan diets are not entirely dissimilar to human," EDI commented, her voice emanating from a speaker overhead. "In point of fact, many krogans may boast a healthier diet than your own, given their preference for fresh meat and your fondness for pre-packaged refreshments overloaded with artificial preservatives. In case you weren't aware, the beef you are currently consuming was entirely vat grown," the AI explained helpfully.
Joker stopped with his fork halfway to his mouth, giving first it, and then Shepard a plaintive look.
"Thanks for the fun facts, EDI," Shepard said, shaking her head.
"I'm happy to help, Commander."
The pilot defiantly swallowed his forkful of beef, while Shepard followed suit and tackled her own meal. The mess hall was quiet, with only the sound of cutlery scraping and the muted conversation of a pair of off-duty navigators at the other table. Shepard was more than happy to enjoy the temporary peace, while the back of her mind mulled over the upcoming challenges. Once they hit Tuchanka, she'd have to find a doctor to deal with Grunt on a planet known more for soldiers than healers, and track down yet another of Mordin's missing assistants.
Movement to her right drew her attention, and Shepard glanced over to spy the lean, familiar form of her turian sniper approaching, a plate of dextro food in hand.
"Commander, Joker," Garrus greeted, as he slid into the seat beside Shepard.
Shepard looked up with a smile, only to blink in surprise when she realized he was clad in the dark skin suit he wore underneath his armor. He must have taken a meal break after cleaning his armor from the fire fight on Invictus. Garrus was a stickler on some points, and proper care and maintenance of weapons and armor was one of them. Of course, to Shepard's certain knowledge, he had never before taken his meal outside the main battery.
She shook her head to clear the momentary distraction. "Good to see you out and about. No bumps or bruises from our latest adventure?"
Garrus pried open a small container of sauce, and she caught a bitterly astringent smell. A bit like mint and coffee mixed together. "Please, Shepard. There were only seven of them," Vakarian reminded her with a lazy grin. "So Joker, how long till we hit Tuchanka?"
"About four hours, give or take," Joker answered.
The Commander glanced curiously at her pilot to see if he found anything unusual about Garrus joining them. Joker didn't seem interested in anything but his food, so she shook her head again and managed a sly sidelong glance to admire the sleek lines of her best sniper, now clearly visible without the armor.
The damn turian glanced up from his plate and winked at her.
Dammit. One little bit of flirting, and I lose my head. Get a grip, Commander.
Shepard cleared her throat and deliberately turned her attention to her pilot. "Did you manage to get a hold of Wrex?"
The chances that Wrex would be monitoring the old frequencies were slim, but Shepard had asked Joker to try anyway, hoping to give him a heads up on the Grunt situation. Or maybe get a suggestion from him on who might be able to help the young krogan. However, she wasn't surprised when Joker grimaced and shook his head.
"No dice. Nobody let me talk to him. Turns out he's some kind of big shot there now. I did manage to get hold of someone else in their Clan Urdnot, who agreed to pass the word back," Joker offered in rueful consolation. "Wrex should be waiting close to the landing site they gave me. Sorry, Commander... I didn't want to throw your name about on an open signal."
Joker eyed her warily from under the edge of his cap, apparently not entirely sure he'd made the right call. Shepard shot him a quick smile of approval and watched the pilot relax.
"It can wait till we get there," the Commander agreed. "I have to admit, I have a lot of trouble picturing Wrex as a politician."
"Krogan politics," Garrus pointed out from her right. "I'm pretty sure that all boils down to who has the biggest quad. You probably taught him everything he needed to know for his new career."
She coughed around the mouthful she'd just swallowed. "Not sure I have the plating for a krogan head butt. I have a feeling that's a big part of krogan diplomacy," Shepard drawled back, grinning over at him.
"Mr Moreau," EDI interrupted, her modulated tones almost apologetic at the intrusion. "We are approaching the Imir relay."
Across from them, Joker snorted as he pushed back his now-empty plate. "Well, that's me out," he announced cheerfully, climbing to his feet. The pilot adjusted the low hang of his cap, and gave a nod to Shepard as Garrus lifted a hand in farewell.
Shepard watched his off-kilter amble as he made his way around the corner of the mess hall, heading for the elevator. She was fully aware of the attentive stillness of the turian beside her, and slanted a quick glance in his direction.
"So does this mean our bet's off?" Garrus asked in a low voice, the one eye not occluded by the visor sparkling with humour.
It took her a moment. Shepard flashed back to a half-forgotten conversation held while floating outside the Normandy's hull. "If I remember correctly, the terms of that bet included new armor for you if I managed to take down a krogan with the..." She paused, and grinned suddenly. "... Diplomatic approach."
Vakarian laughed; a low-pitched, flanging sound that Shepard now admitted sent shivers down the length of her spine. "And a new rifle for you if you can't," he reminded her. "Really, Shepard. You should have more faith in yourself."
Pushing her empty plate away, Shepard spun the chair to face him with a grin. "Don't worry, big guy. Our bet's still on."
It was, after all, as good a way as any to justify giving him the new heavy turian armor she'd just picked up on Invictus. Watching him traipse about everyday in the broken, buckled set he'd had since Omega was a far too vivid reminder of how close she'd come to losing him. If she'd been even a few hours later... Forcing the thought aside, the Commander made a mental note to wear her hardiest helmet when they hit Tuchanka.
"Glad to hear it," he drawled back. Popping a sweet-smelling bunch of stalks into his mouth, Garrus chewed thoughtfully. "It'll be good to see Wrex again," he admitted.
"Think he missed us?"
Vakarian's uninjured mandible flattened against his cheek in a half grin. "I think he missed the trouble we get into."
"Officer Vakarian," EDI spoke up. "We are receiving a real time message for you, from Omega."
Shepard raised her eyebrows in surprise, but Garrus didn't seem alarmed. He grabbed another bite from his plate and got to his feet smoothly. "Thanks EDI, I was expecting that." Garrus slanted a quick look over at her, and extended his hand carefully to her in invitation. "I was chasing up some intel on the mercs who jumped me on Invictus. Want to listen in?"
He seemed shyly hesitant, but the hand he held out was steady. Charmed by the gesture, Shepard curled her much smaller hand around his and let her friend pull her to her feet. "EDI, pipe it through to the main battery," she instructed. Garrus squeezed her hand lightly before dropping it, and they headed away from the mess hall.
"I know it won't change anything," Garrus admitted to her as the doors closed behind them, "but I'd like to know who put the price on my head, and for how much."
"Given how cautious they were on Invictus, I'd say it's a fairly respectable amount." Shepard vetoed her usual seat, instead sticking to his side and leaning a hip against his work station. As he called up the com line, the Commander met his gaze briefly and winked. "Worth every credit, too."
Garrus' hands stumbled tellingly as he opened up the connection, and Shepard had to bite back a grin as an unfamiliar, flanged voice filled the room.
"Hello?"
"It's me, Tallen," Garrus answered quickly, curling his hands around the edge of the console. Shepard noted that he didn't use a name, and wondered if this other turian knew him as Vakarian or only as Archangel.
"I figured I'd hear from you sooner or later," Tallen's voice crackled over the line. "Your name's been thrown around here lately. You should have just laid low. Everyone thought you were dead."
Shepard crossed her arms, seeing her concern echoed in Garrus' grimace.
"I just had a bunch of Suns try to take me out. Who else is gunning for me this time? I haven't even been on Omega to cause trouble for weeks," Vakarian complained.
"Hah! Word is, you've taken the war to the Suns directly. Hitting their supply depots, taking out bases and shutting down their operation on the Citadel. That's always been your problem... You just don't know when to quit."
Startled, Shepard looked up to see Garrus blinking in surprise. It was true, they had been running across Blue Suns bases fairly regularly out here, but neither of them had considered the implications of the merc gang figuring out the turian sniper on her team was Archangel. If they had, given Archangel's bold tactics on Omega, it was almost inevitable they'd conclude he was going after them deliberately. Shepard could have kicked herself, but who would have thought the Suns would make that connection? Turians weren't exactly uncommon out in the Terminus Systems.
"Guess all our good deeds out here are coming back to bite us in the ass," she muttered, keeping her voice low enough that hopefully it wouldn't be audible over the line.
Garrus sighed heavily. "Is it just the Suns after my head this time?"
There was a pause. "Isn't that enough? They're keeping it in house for now, but do yourself a favor. Go find some quiet little patch of nowhere, and keep a low profile for a few years."
Shepard let herself exhale slowly, rolling the tension out of her shoulders carefully. Blue Suns, they could deal with. If the merc group had put a serious open bounty up against Garrus, they'd have had some major issues.
"I'll do my best," Vakarian muttered, staring fixedly ahead. "Thanks Tallen. I owe you one."
"Anytime, buddy."
The background static dissolved into silence, and Shepard clearly heard the shallow sigh from the turian beside her. "It had to be Harkin." His hands curled tighter around the edge of the console, and he wouldn't meet her eyes. "I knew I should have killed that son of a bitch when I had the chance."
It was naive of them, perhaps, to assume Harkin wouldn't have made the connection between Garrus Vakarian and Archangel. Sidonis wasn't likely to have shared details, but Harkin had brains - of a sort.
"Hey," Shepard interjected sharply, reaching up to grip his forearm. "That was my call. You questioning my decision?"
The challenge was unexpected enough to shatter his anger, and startled blue eyes met hers immediately. "Of course not, Shepard. But you can't tell me this won't make things harder out here. It sure as hell did today."
She acknowledged that with a nod. "Nothing we can't work around," she said, then shot him a smirk. "Or you can stay on board the Normandy during resupply runs."
Garrus' expression twisted into a grimace of distaste. "You'll have a fight on your hands if you try to make that an order, Commander."
Shepard's lips twitched against a smile. "Ease down, big guy. I won't bench you." She kept her tone deliberately light, even as she ran the scenarios in her head. Cerberus couldn't help them on this score; it was their missions that so often sent Shepard and her team up against the Suns. But there were other powers operating out in the Terminus Systems. She squeezed Garrus' arm lightly, and decided it couldn't hurt to pay Aria a visit sometime soon.
"We have enough people gunning for us already," Vakarian pointed out unhappily. "This isn't about our mission. They're coming after me, because I pissed them off."
Shepard edged closer, nudging his ankle lightly with her boot. "Hey, that's part of the job. If you aren't pissing somebody off, you're doing something wrong."
Tilting his head, Garrus studied her wryly. "Guess I'm pretty damn good at my job."
"The best," she agreed. The warmth of his arm under the thin material was a distraction, but one that Shepard was willing to work with. Until she could take action to deal with this problem, her best bet was to plan around it and drive on. "Let it go, Vakarian," she urged quietly. She ran an encouraging hand up the length of his arm, keeping her attention steady on him.
"Letting things go isn't exactly my strong point," the turian replied ironically, but despite the tone, she could see his attention shifting. Garrus moved fractionally, as he also became aware of how close they were standing. She watched his expression shift from resigned to alert, and smirked.
"C'mon Garrus," the Commander drawled, curling her fingers around his forearm and squeezing lightly in rebuke. "You really think I'm going to let some two-bit merc gang take out my best sniper?"
A mandible twitched as he edged closer, looming over her. "I always knew you just wanted me for my gun."
The conversation was familiar; the banter had marked their relationship almost since the beginning. But the physical closeness was new. Shepard drew in a deep breath and the musky, familiar scent of him was all around her.
"You flirting with me, Vakarian?" she asked, tilting her head back to meet his gaze straight on. She took a deliberate step closer, removing the remaining distance between them.
Feeling his hands settle hesitantly against her hips, she had to smile at the sweetness of his uncertainty. "Maybe," he admitted. "How am I doing?"
Her hand lifted almost of her own volition, pressing lightly against the injured mandible. Shepard felt it twitch in surprise under her touch, heard the sudden hitched breath he took, and her smile widened. "Not bad," she murmured. "Why don't you tell me some more about your gun?"
Chuckling softly, Garrus seemed to grow more confident with her boldness. His hands tightened against her hips, tugging lightly to pull her closer. Shepard had thought he looked smaller out of his bulky armor, but she'd never been this close to him... not like this. Her legs were pressed against his, his arms framed her, his body loomed over her. The alienness of him wrapped around her; the strange scent of his skin, the rough texture of the damaged mandible under her gentle fingers, the size of him. It was a new and different manifestation of the man who'd been her best friend for years, and Shepard found herself fascinated by it all.
His bright blue eyes shifted over her face intently. "You know, when I was in the turian military, I specialized in sniper rifles for a reason," Garrus remarked casually.
Feeling his mandible shift under her hand as he smirked, Shepard traced the edge of it with a delicate fingertip. "Let me guess... because it gives you improved reach in a gunfight?" she asked.
"Glad to see you've been paying attention," he purred. "Anytime you want some pointers, you know where to find me."
Shepard glanced sideways to the pristine, newly-cleaned rifle propped up over his weapons locker. The man looked after the things he cared about. Even if she'd known nothing else about Garrus Vakarian, that would have been enough to reassure her that this decision to get closer to him was a good one.
"I know how to use one of those, you know," she pointed out, shifting in his arms. "I just like getting in close for the kill." Garrus edged closer and she found herself unexpectedly pressed up flush against him, her hips sliding against the unfamiliar bones of the long, sleek turian body. Shepard's brain hazed out at the edges and her hand froze where it lay against his cheek.
His breath came out in a shaky exhalation, hands clenching avidly over her hips.
Ah hell... This is... Ease off, Shepard. Or you'll end up jumping him here in the damned main battery.
It was intense, for just some casual flirting and the most innocent of touches. Damned if her heart wasn't pounding against her ribs; when she dropped her hand down to press against his chest, she could feel the rapid thud of his heart beating against it and knew he was in a similar state. Shepard drew in a sharp, deep breath and met his eyes, finding her own amused surprise echoed there. No, this wasn't what she'd expected. It hadn't been like this with Kaidan, or... anyone.
"Shepard, I -"
She managed a rueful smile, and pulled back carefully. "Slowly. Right. I know." Exhaling, she shook her head and took a moment to get her head back on straight. She dragged her brain back onto the topic of sniper rifles, ignoring any distracting metaphorical implications. "It's not a bad idea, though... If you think you've got something to teach me, Vakarian, let's do it."
Garrus closed his eyes, inhaling deeply. When he opened them again, he was smiling. "If I show you all my secrets, you won't need to keep me around anymore."
It made her laugh, curling her hand into a fist and punching lightly against his chest. "Sure I will. I can't watch my own ass out there, can I?"
"Happy to be of service, Commander," Vakarian drawled, and she was pleased to see no more signs of the earlier tension in him. It seemed she'd managed to distract him out of his tendency to brood. As long as she could keep her own hormones under control, it looked like Shepard had found a sure-fire way to cheer him up.
"We can talk about that later too," she retorted with a grin. Then she sighed. "For now, I'd better go catch Mordin before we hit Tuchanka. I need some more details on this assistant he wants us to look for."
With clear reluctance, Garrus let his hands fall free of her waist, and Shepard took a careful step back, putting some distance between them. It wasn't what she wanted, but she wasn't going to screw this up by pushing too far, too fast. Vakarian was too important to her to scare him off.
"Always on duty," the turian murmured softly, his mandibles shifted into a faint smile. "I'll meet you in the shuttle bay in a few hours."
She hesitated a moment longer, feeling his gaze steady on hers. Watching the display on his visor shift and fluctuate, Shepard knew she was being studied as closely and minutely as anything in a combat zone had been. She'd have been uncomfortable if it had been anyone else watching her, but Garrus... Garrus looked at her the same way he looked at his gun; satisfied, admiring and just a little bit smug.
Shepard turned to hit the control panel, the doors immediately opening onto the walkway leading to the mess hall. As she left the main battery, and the watchful turian, the Commander kept an ear out for the sound of the doors closing behind her... and didn't hear it.
She couldn't hold back the grin as she walked away, knowing he was watching her from behind the precise scope of the visor, the entire length of the walkway.