Ok, Dear Readers. Sixth chapter is here. As always, if you liked it or not, please leave feedback if you can. :) It really helps. I think I'm going to post every wednesday and every saturday. Steamy bits are coming... ;) And yes, this is a Shakarian / Shenko drama too. :)

*hugs*

Have fun!

Chapter 6

With a deep breath, Shepard opened her eyes for the new day. Liara was sitting on a desk next to the couch, typing away and managing reports. She was cut out from her Shadow Broker network and was trying to do her best to coordinate her operatives with the little resources she had.

Dr Aoife Flanagan entered the quiet room.

'Good morning, Commander. How are you today?' She opened Shepard's file on her omni-tool. 'I see the last ossification treatment was well absorbed by your body. If you keep up this pace, one more treatment in two days, and you'll be able to be released. Do you have any complaints or concerns you would like to discuss?'

'Two days? Can't it be sooner? I would like to get away from this place as soon as possible. No offence, Doc.'

'None taken, Commander. Well, let's see, your scan's this afternoon and if everything is clear, we'll have this discussion again. Your implants have been crucial in your recovery. I only wish we could have this technology available here.'

'Yeah, I think that would be difficult, Doc. But if I hear anything, I'll make sure to send it your way. Have you been receiving many patients?'

'Not enough, Commander, not nearly enough. One would think that with all the horrors that happened there would be more hurt and refugees. But... Well, we will survive. There is no other option. Right?'

The kind doctor tried her best to hide the sad cast on her green eyes. Shepard could understand her position. She could have done so much, but there weren't enough people for her to save.

And I killed an entire race, probably dooming the Quarians to centuries of rehabilitation. What a great protector I am...

'I understand, Doc. Thank you for everything.'

'Oh, it was nothing, Commander. Now, take your cane and go for a walk, time to stretch and prepare for a possible session of calcification later today.'

With that, Shepard was alone with Liara again. She could hear her friend's soft tapping on the table from her virtual keyboard, too entranced in her work. Her company was pleasant, and she didn't feel crowded. She actually felt safe.

'Liara? What do you think about us going for a walk?'

'Sounds like a great idea, Shepard. Let me get you something decent to wear.'

Finally, she was outside. She was welcomed by the sun and a warm breeze going through her free hair at the hospital's open area. The building was behind her, and she could see a span of maybe 500m2 of rock tiled paths and large squares of green gardens filled with flowers and trees. Keeping her eyes levelled, she could breathe in and almost believe that' nothing had happened. Everything was just a bloody nightmare.

So much green... Shepard went back to her childhood. Carefree and wild. Looking up slightly, Shepard could see various columns of smoke, black and ominous in the far distance. She crashed back into reality and swallowed it up. I'm not going back there again.

'This place reminds me of Thessia.' Liara did the same as Shepard. Keeping her eyes levelled, she permitted herself some few momentsminutes of illusion. Her friend at her side, clad in the same clothing as her, a soft cotton shirt and thick but soft blue trousers, denim, that was its name. She was in white, and Shepard in bright turquoise. Her friend loved colours, she never knew that. Her hair was loose with an abundance of curls. She looked so different like that, graceful and beautiful.

'Oh! Hello, Aelius. I didn't know you were still here.' Liara recognized the turian soldier she had sent as part of Shepard's rescue party.

'Hello Liara. Hello, Commander Shepard. How are you?'

Shepard's heart clenched, Aelius had a deep resonant voice not too different from Garrus'. Desperation started to rise in her. It'll pass Joan, breathe...

Noticing how quiet Shepard was, Liara took the lead. 'All is well. Shepard is recovering and will be out soon. Are you visiting anyone?'

'Yes, the little girl, Alessa. The psychologist requested me to come by today and spend some time with the kid. Apparently, she only speaks when I'm present.'

'I understand. Well, I'm not going to keep you from such important matters. Have a good day, soldier.' Liara and Shepard started to walk.

'Yeah, yes. Until next time.' Aelius left the duo to their walk.

'Thank you, Liara.' Shepard smiled.

'Any time.'

They walked in silence for a while, the sun walking with them and now casting shadows in the opposite direction. Shepard was weak, but the cane held her up, and Liara was a rock at her side.

The cut on her right side was a faint pale line. Her legs held her better, and hopefully the leg stabilizer would come out later that day.

Finding a quiet place to sit under a tree, Liara squirmed, trying to find a way to approach a subject.

'Liara, I know you want to say something, you always fidget like that when you are anxious. What is it?'

'I don't know how to say it, so I'll just shoot.'

Shepard raised an eyebrow to her friend. 'I think you have been spending too much time with me, Liara.'

'May be. But, Shepard, aren't you curious about the Normandy?'

'I don't know. I don't want an answer.'

'But they are all alright. No casualties reported. You didn't read the report on your omni-tool?'

'No...' Shepard felt she was getting better with her lies. But the cold feel of dread still sunk in her stomach. Joker... they cannot know...

'Why wouldn't you want to know?'

'I don't know, I think I'm just being ridiculous.'

At that moment, their omni-tools lit up. A direct Alliance message. The Normandy had arrived in the Sol system; they were going to dock on the Luna outpost and report to Adm Hackett.

'I... I...' Shepard looked alarmed.

'Shepard, what is it?'

Shepard wobbled to an upright position. With her cane in hand, she ambled towards the building. Entering her room, she saw the figure who haunted her dreams and terrified her.

Garrus had ditched the reporting, and when the Normandy docked at the Luna base, Cortez already had a shuttle waiting for him. In the driver's seat, it had been so long since he last flown one of these; he found the last shred of peace in him and took off to London.

'Garrus!' Shepard was a hurricane of emotions. She loved and hated him for loving her so much, for being so caring, for being there; for fighting by her side. For believing in her. He was clad, like his eyes and markings, in pale blue civilian clothing with a perfect fitting around his collar and shoulders. Her skin ached for him.

'Joan...' Garrus' soft subharmonics resonated how lost he was without her. He was taken aback from the sight presented to him. The fullness which graced her curves was gone. Her eyes had a distinct greenish hollow reminding him of many sleepless nights of hers that he had witnessed. She was too thin, too pale, too sad, too dim. He opened his arms and waited with his heart beating hard in his chest.

Shepard took a limp run to him, wrapping her arms around him and holding as tight as she could. She felt him doing the same, his hands on her upper back and lower, spanning across as much of her as he could.

With her face in his neck, she didn't know how to cry, so she settled to just burying her face in his neck and breathing him in. She gave him her weight, and he took all of it. Each intake of air telling him how lost she was. But he will never know. I can never tell him.

Liara was in the corridor, and when she heard Garrus's low voice, she decided to find something else to do with her time for now. I hope now she can start to get better now ...

Minutes passed, and Shepard didn't let go. Garrus lifted her up, careful with the immobilized leg and sat down on the couch with her across his lap.

He lowered his head and kissed the top of her head. Her hair still smelled the same, fresh green and citrusy. The feel of it againston his face comforted him. It was soft and warm, and he felt like he finally had come home. 'I'm so happy you are alive...'

'Well, you did order me to come back to you. How could I not follow that?' She said it quietly with a weak smile.

In the back of his mind, Garrus wondered if this was ok. He had good experience with humans, but he still missed a few things. All he knew was that there may be something wrong here.

'Haha, If that is all it takes, then I'm going to ask you to make a solemn vow that you'll never leave me and will not die before I do.'

'What? No, when the time comes we will go together in a blaze of glory or when we are old and grey surrounded by family.' Her heart tightened. She wanted to be dead as much as she wanted to be alive and with him.

Garrus had a thoughtful cast on his features with tight mandibles and intense eyes. 'Do you see a future like that?' He asked, looking deep into her eyes. Do you see this future for us? He didn't dare say.

She averted her eyes, she talked too much. 'Perhaps one day, the war IS over.'

Garrus held her tight. She was there and not there at the same time. Pushing the nagging feeling aside, he carried on.

'So, tell me, how have you been?

'Better than expected, I guess. My body is healing well. I've got to thank Miranda. She did a good job reconstructing me.'

'I knew you were strong, Joan, but...' He looked pointedly to her cast leg. 'The Spirits must be really making an effort to make me happy.'

'Apparently. Maybe they have done too much...'

'What do you mean?'

'Hm? Oh, nothing... How have you been?'

'Stranded, the Normandy took some damage; we crash landed on an uncharted planet. To our luck, the planet was habitable, and fixing the ship wasn't too much of a hassle.'

Garrus observed her like an eagle... 'What happened after the Major and I left with the Normandy?'

'I don't know.' Shepard lied again. Looking out the window beside him, she continued. 'It's one big blur. I remember saying goodbye to you and him, there was an explosion which shot me away. I woke up, killed the few remaining Marauders, and ran to the Beam.'

Taking a deep breath and making the final decision that she will never mention what happened to anyone, she continued. 'I arrived in a dark place, the Illusive Man... he was there... he shot Anderson, he killed him... after that I passed out... I was so tired... I believe The Crucible locked in place and fired. After that I have no idea how I came back to Earth'

Garrus gave her a puzzled look, and she amended. 'Yes, I am myself, implants and all. No clone or reconstruction needed. I was actually in sort of decent shape when I was found 4 or 5 days later I think.'

Garrus took a deep breath. 'You are here, those memories may or may not come back. I don't really care. I have you in my arms, I will notwon't argue with that.'

'Huh, Liara said kind of the same thing. So, no casualties?'

'None living. Edi was erased. Joker is completely devastated.'

'I see.' Shepard barely flinched, she was getting better at hiding.

'They stayed back, but I couldn't wait.' With her firmly cradled in his lap, he ran the fingers of his free handhis other hand's finger along her jaw.

She held that hand there and with hers on his neck, pulled him down to kiss him.

His skin was warm and inviting, tough and velvety smooth at the same time. His lips were nothing like a human's, but still managed to melt her insides. His tongue caressed her, and she surrendered her mouth to him.

Her mouth was his heaven. She loved his upper and lower lip with soft wet kisses, and when the time came, he nibbled on her soft full lips making her part for him, and penetrated her with his tongue. The feel of it surrounded by her lips and tongue was something not even the most articulate poet would be able to explain. He set a rhythm, and the soft moans that came from her satisfied every hungry part of him.

His tongue on her mouth deliciously caressing her insides awoke her body. It had a slight phallic shape, less flat than a human's and a little longer. She gave it little sucks, knowing how much it drove him wild. She was completely his in that moment and craved his presence in other parts of her body. But he remained somewhat chaste.

Garrus craved tearing off her clothes and possessing her right there. But she was too fragile, too hurt to be able to take him. We have all the time in the world.

The kiss ended with Sheppard half laying on him and half on the couch. The unlikely couple was breathing heavily and neither said a word. They just enjoyed that peaceful moment of their reunion.

Sheppard's deception was working. I can leave this behind me. I can.