Archangel signaled her with a finger to hold her back, a breath taken. Silent seconds passed as he lined up a shot, and he waited like a hawk. Patient and precise, he waited for his target to peek out of cover. The brain matter of a Salarian merc splattered across the bridge as the sound of his silent shot rang in her ears. Slowly he stood, placing his sniper aside as he moved to sit up on his nest.
Her eyes followed his every twitch, watching him pull his helmet free, taking a seat in his nest with a grunt. Pain and relief hit her chest as she traced the lines of his mandibles, the blue clan markings he so proudly held. As his eyes met hers, everything tunneled toward him in disbelief and happiness and pain and worry.
"Shepard. I thought you were dead."
Everything in her wanted to cry his name happily, to hold him and relish now that she had another old friend back in her life, but she knew it wouldn't happen. The sight of his exhausted eyes, the scattered stims, the horrid condition he squatted in for safety.
Two years of swallowing the pain of losing his commander and friend had taken its effect in the worst way.
"Garrus," she replied softly, "It's good to see you. Didn't expect to find you on Omega."
He chuckled softly, a cold edge to the sound. "Well you know me. Law abiding, red tape covered places aren't exactly my favorite. Figured after a while, I could bring my own brand of justice to someplace else."
Her eyes softened, stepping forward. "From Spectre trainee to vigilante... not the greatest career change."
"Well after you died, and the Council decided to throw you to the winds, the idea of being a Spectre just didn't appeal to me anymore."
Shepard nodded solemnly. She knew the Council would betray her, even after saving them in the Battle against Saren. After all she had done to prove the Reapers were real, they threw her away after she died on a mission she didn't need to do. Despite everything, she was just another human, another crazy woman with no evidence to a story that had landed on their front door. Literally. It was among the wounds she carried after being revived and learning how everything had changed while she lay on an operating table under Cerberus knives and scientists. She stepped closer to him, her expression sliding into a gentle but mournful one.
"I have a lot to explain."
"I figured that, seeing as a dead woman is in front of me... but I trust you not to lie to me."
Her smile came back. It felt warmer, just a little better then the cold reminders of the missing time. "Never in a million years, Garrus. Sorry I took a long nap. Lost track of time for a while there."
He gave her the turian equivalent of a smile, the gentlest tug up of his mandibles, standing up to his full height. His hand went for his sniper rifle.
"Well I'm just glad you woke up. It's good to have you back, Shepard. Now, care to help me finish a job before you start explaining?"
"If it involves killing more stupid mercs and gangs, then count me in. But first... why did you shoot me?"
Garrus smiled again, taking up his sniper rifle, checking the clip for a moment. His visor flickered.
"Concussive rounds, so nothing dangerous. I just needed to know it really was you walking down that bridge. Last thing I wanted to see while on stims was a hallucination of you and find out it wasn't real again."
She took up a spot next to him, pulling out her sniper. She patted his closest shoulder, smirking as the next wave came for them. She couldn't imagine his sorrow when he saw her, after imagining her so many times. She would never truly understand, but she could relieve him of that pain.
"No need to worry about hallucinations or stims anymore. I'm right here. Sorry for making you wait."
"I'm just glad to have you back, Shepard. Now, let's get back to what we do best."
Another fire lit in the universe.
She had tried to race from the last sealed off route to him when she heard the airship coming for him, pushing her body and bitoics to rocket her through ad over her enemies, trying to get there before he lost himself under its fire. She ignored her team, ignored the screaming of her heart, but even as she flew into the lobby og the building, she could see the explosion of fire as he was hit and thrown to the ground.
Failure, failure, failure. She should have been faster, she should have thrown her biotics farther, attacked better. If she hadn't slipped up, he wouldn't be dying here! She clung to him as his blue blood spilled across his fingers. Miranda was droning on how he wouldn't make it. Jacob was trying to either radio the ship or speak to someone else, but either way the noise was getting to her, and she lost it. Biotic fury pushed them away as she stared daggers at them, eyes flickering in deadly blue. Her power unbound in this one instant was a terrifying sight, and she made sure it was. She was a wild storm of anger and emotions and biotics, and it could kill.
"ENOUGH! Get me the shuttle, NOW! Enough of this bullshit! That's an order!"
Her rage snapped them into action as she kept pressing against his wounds, shaking her head, trying to keep her emotions under wraps. Her biotics were a mess, flickering around her like a static shield. She needed to calm down, he needed to keep breathing.
"Don't you dare, Garrus. Keep breathing, don't fall asleep please!"
His gargled reply frightened her, as he held weakly onto her hand. She kept pressure on it, trying to keep his eyes open, fearing that she would lose him. The hum of the shuttle roared nearby, drowned out by the sound of him trying to keep awake, trying to breathe. Her heart roared painfully as his started to go silent. She roared at hands coming to get her off him, taking in sharp breaths as they took him into the shuttle. They had to keep hold of her in fear of her biotics crashing them, luckily though Miranda could balance her fraying control until Shepard could, seconds before they made it to the Normandy.
She raced with him as they took him straight to med bay, not even bothering to take off her armor. Chakwas didn't stop her as they put him onto a gurney, but as she tried to help, the old Doctor pushed her back.
"I can help!" she immediately argued, her biotics crackling for a moment. Chakwas continued to push against her, a firm look on her face
"Shepard, I know it's Garrus, but I need you out of here now."
"Chakwas, please-" she pleaded, but Chakwas wouldn't budge. She pointed to the door.
"I won't be hearing it. Leave, now, Commander, for his sake!"
She hissed against her orders but complied, limping out of the med bay as the shutters closed and the door locked behind her. She rested against the door for a moment, looking down at the bright blue blood decorating her hands and chest. She fingered a small pool of it in her palm for a moment, sliding down the door to hit the floor.
Hit by a rocket, a direct impact against his face... he could die in the room behind her, and all she would have left of him was this blood on her hands.
Two years pass without anyone and the one time she can reconnect, she watches him die before her.
She knew the crew was watching, staring, unable to comprehend what had happened, what she was going through. New faces watching a scarred and tightened face struggle with the pain of losing a friend reclaimed before their eyes.
Shepard stood on shaky legs, avoiding her crew's eyes and slowly moved to the elevator. She would take her armor off in the loading bay, slowly piece by bloody piece, lay it down unclean, and stare at it. Watching it dry against her armor as clear as day. Her gloves hadn't saved her from the pain of having the blood on her hands, wiggling her digits even as she returned to the mess, awaiting the news on Garrus' survival. Unnerved by the silence, she tried to find an out for her anxiety and fears.
Gardner came to her rescue with a cup of something strong smelling, setting it before her as if she would drink it no questions asked. She was dubious of it for a moment, arching an eyebrow, but he continued to push it at her with an encouraging smile.
"Dextro chocolate coffee. Something I snuck out of Omega. Give it a try, Commander. I have a good feeling you'd have no issue with the allergy."
"Now that you mention it... that is one thing I wanted to test."
Gardner cocked an eyebrow, sitting across from her as she took a long sip, sighing in relief as she wrapped blood soaked fingers around the cup.
"No issue I assume, Commander?" He asked cautiously but curiously.
"Not at all," Shepard moaned blissfully, taking another drink, "This is delicious. How much more do you have of this?"
Gardner chuckled, glad to see her happy. "Not too much, sadly. We'll have to pick more up. I was told this was cheap stuff by the girl that sold me it. If we visit, say, Illium, or the Citadel, we could pick up better ones. Of course, getting better rations overall would be nice."
"That I can do, Gardner," Shepard smiled, setting her cup down, "we may... have to wait though."
Her eyes came to the med bay again, her sorrow and fear returning. She shielded it under her normal soldier mask as she could. She took another sip, settling into a silence.
"Do ya' trust that doctor of yours, Commander?"
She sighed softly, her fingers tapping against the cup in her hands.
"Yeah. Chakwas is good... no, amazing, at what she does. I wouldn't want another."
"Then don't worry too much," Gardner said, "He'll be fine if he's in such good hands. Take some time, I'll make you more dextro coffee if you'd like."
Shepard looked down into her cup. Her concerned face reflected against the dark surface of the rippling liquid, the glow of her cybernetics reminding her coldly of their existence. Her eyes moved to the dried blue blood on her fingers. Too quickly did she remember the sight of the rocket hitting his face, splashing his blood across the ground and furniture.
She slammed back the rest of her cup and offered it up to Gardner.
"That would be nice."
She didn't last too long in the mess, downing two more cups of the dextro coffee before moving from the mess, into the briefing room. Quietly messing with navigation, she plotted different routes for when they were off missions to hunt for supplies and such to keep the ship stocked in case they needed to upgrade or change anything. She was trying to plot more extensive routes to mine through planets to get ready to do upgrades and mods when Jacob came in silently. His news chilled her to the bone.
"Dr. Chakwas did what she could for Garrus. Some correctional surgeries and cybernetics fixed most of the damage but we don't know when he'll be up."
She sighed, dropping her eyes. It was to be expected after such a hit. She nodded to him softly.
"For now, it seems he'll be fine-"
Their eyes drew to the opening door, the sight of her beaten but not down turian bringing a smile to her face.
"Damn. Tough son of a bitch."
She looked a little better, seeing the large bandage over part of his face, scars running over his mandible. His face markings had also taken a beating. But he was still breathing, still alive. Still the same stubborn turian he was before.
"No one would give me a mirror. How bad is it?" Garrus asked, gesturing to his face and wounds.
Shepard immediately laughed, uncrossing her arms. If he wanted honesty, he would get it from her.
"Forgive my bluntness, sweetie, but you look fucked up. But don't worry, we can fix up your pretty face with some paint, some grease."
He got a laugh out of that one, groaning quickly after, though his smile never faded.
"Damn, don't make me laugh. My face is barely holding together as it is. Some woman fins facial scars attractive, you know."
She chuckled, glad to know even after the rocket he was okay. Jacob continued to watch for a moment before saluting stiffly and leaving. It was for the better. Garrus watched him leave, and turned back to her once the door had closed.
"Cerberus, Shepard? Is this among the things you wanted to explain?"
"Absolutely," she confirmed, "I just... it's going to a long explanation."
"It worries me, that Cerberus of all organizations, got their hands on you. It scares me as well, Shepard. Are you sure you're alright?"
She had to honestly pause to think for that one.
"Not entirely. I'm still not entirely alright with this but... it's all I have. Besides, it feels a little more like home now that you're here. Less like I'm a prisoner of Cerberus."
"Well it's good to know I'm a comfort. Perhaps I can thank Cerberus for doing some good for once. Now, the question is do you want to explain now or let me set up in the main battery?"
Shepard smirked a little, poking at the damaged ridge of his armor.
"Explanation now, while I'm still hyped up on dextro coffee."
Garrus went pale for a moment, and she honestly didn't expect it. Quickly, she realized the implications of what she had said. She held her hands up before he started to ask.
"Don't worry, don't worry. I'll explain that too. Along with all the things that Cerberus did when they brought me back, immunity to the whole different protein thing was included. I can eat and drink dextro things now."
His response was tight. "If you say so. I'm going to Chakwas-"
"No you aren't. I'm fine."
"Shepard-" his voice was urgent, and worried. He had to make sure she would be okay.
"I drank that coffee thirty minutes ago. Also if I was still allergic, I'd be dead by now because I had several cups."
"...your ship already has dextro rations?"
Her smile came back. Successfully ensuring she was safe with dextro rations, she had steered it in the right direction. She grinned, motioning to the door. His eyes followed it slowly.
"Chocolate coffee. Gardner, our resident mess sergeant, picked up some stuff while he had some shore leave on Omega. He got it for me, but I don't mind sharing my stash of dextro sweets."
"...I'll be visiting the mess before I meet you at your cabin."
"I'll be waiting. Bring extras."
He turned to smile as they left together for the elevator. "No promises."
It was a conversation she didn't think of having, but it honestly lifted a great burden off her chest. She had left Garrus and the rest of her crew without anything, and to just show up two years later like nothing had happened, and the only difference was a Cerberus tag attached to her body and ship. Getting the time to explain and try to start fixing year long open wounds, to make up for so much lost and ruined time, helped her immensely. Sharing a few cups of dextro chocolate coffee, talking about what happened in two years, what had changed in Shepard, what Garrus had done. It was still a little hard, a little fresh, but it would be alright, if she was to believe what Garrus was saying.
"I wish I could just do this for a while..." she mused, setting her cup aside and standing up. Garrus followed her as she moved to the side of her bed, poking at a wall panel as she opened a part of her closet.
"Do this?" he repeated. She nodded gently.
"This. Just... taking time off and talking and relaxing. Hell, it's barely even begun, this mission to go after the Collectors, and.. I'm tired. Two years of missing time, of throwing away so many friendships and connections... its so tiring to reforge all of this while literally working for a terrorist organization because you have no choice."
She stripped of her Cerberus labeled uniform top, tossing it into the back of her closet, adjusting her sports bra. Garrus sighed softly as she dug into the space, approaching her as she found something not labeled with a logo. A simple blank tank top that wrapped around her.
"Shepard.. I realize this mission Cerberus has you on is important, but they must realize they can't burn you out so quickly."
She chuckled coldly, shoving her panel back into place. "I can't burn out, really. Thanks to these cybernetics."
She stuck out her arm, revealing the lightly glowing orange cybernetics through her arm. It disappeared into her shirt, the lines tracing her entire body. She hadn't been complete when her facility had been attacked, so they would show no matter what. Garrus gently grabbed her arm in his gloved hands, putting it down to her side.
"Like you're already showing me, Shepard, you could care less about Cerberus and their rules. Today has been a long day. Dock for the night, get some sleep. I'll be here for the rest of this mission, no matter what."
Shepard smiled then, appreciating his gentle approach, his caring voice. She turned to him, gently hitting a curled hand against his carapace.
"You'll have my six again?"
"Of course, Shepard. No one else can do it better then me." Garrus said with appropriate pride. Shepard nodded, her smile growing.
"No one can do a better team then Shepard and Vakarian."
"Damn right, Shepard."