"So... a human, huh?"
Garrus growled and then groaned, throwing back his shot before glaring at Chellick, who only laughed at his reaction. The bartender happily slid a bigger drink toward him instead of more shots. Bailey squinted at him for a moment before raising his glass.
"Not just any human, huh, Garrus?"
"Bailey..."
"Congrats for falling in love with the Commander, Garrus." Bailey's grin couldn't be larger, and Garrus' neck couldn't be flushed a more brighter blue.
Chellick gave out a confused chirp before beginning to laugh at Garrus, setting aside his drink to join Bailey in mocking their friend's pain of falling in love. Garrus eventually got them to calm down with a rather good growl, which snapped Chellick back from his laughing face, but with it he realized just how far in Garrus was, how much he meant it. He gave Bailey a playful hit.
"Give it a rest, Bailey."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Just wanted to pull on his mandible for a little."
Garrus gave Chellick a confused look before he realized what he had done, looking down at his drink, replaying Kasumi's words in his head. He nearly growled when Kaidan pushed Shepard out for simply being stuck in a bad situation, and now here when he was questioned by other men. He rubbed his head, the weight of what was held in his heart hitting him deep. Chellick patted him on the back, an offer on support. Garrus took a hardy drink.
"Any good news on the Commander?" Chellick asked.
"She's still in a coma. Doctors are saying another week at most until she could wake up if she doesn't on her own." Garrus explained.
"Not much longer, then," Chellick commented, "What are you going to do about it, Garrus?"
Gazing into the liquid in his glass, Garrus seemed to ignore him before softly speaking.
"I'm going to find a way through it."
"Through it?"
"Nevermind." he deflected, not wanting to go into details.
Chellick grabbed his glass, glaring at him for a moment. "Are you giving up, Vakarian?"
"Not exactly." he countered, his voice rolling with a deep counter of his subvocals, warning Chellick.
Chellick growled just enough to get his attention, the two turians dueling in a war of vocalizations which drew some spectator eyes. Two turians were battling it with their sub vocals, a clear sign that they were going to start fighting eventually, and see as they were at a bar it was the likely outcome. However, to watching eyes, the vocal fight calmed as Garrus seemingly conceded, resting his head in one hand while Chellick set a hand on his shoulder.
"The Garrus I knew was a stubborn piece of shit who stood up for what he saw was right. He also was an idiot."
"Great pep talk, Chellick. And to think they thought about making you Executor."
"Nice offer, too much work. I'm much better off in the wards. That's besides the point, Garrus. You have a chance. Don't let it fall away because it's a squishy human."
Garrus growled then. "It's not that she's human, Chellick."
"It's because it's Commander Shepard, then," Bailey butted in, "Afraid of fraternization catching your hide?"
"I'm technically signed on to Commander Shepards ship, which unfortunately flies under Cerberus colors," Garrus explained, "I doubt fraternization is frowned on that ship as it probably will be once its back to the Alliance."
"Then what the hell are you afraid of, Vakarian?"
He sighed, standing up, gripping the bar that started to sway in his eyes.
"I don't want to fuck things up, especially since she's at her weakest right now. I doubt she even feels the same way. We've been friends for a year or so if you don't count the years she was dead. I don't want to hurt her by throwing in something like this."
Chellick and Bailey looked to him, watching him carefully as his talons loosened from the bar, covering his face, hiding the struggle on his face, the flickering of his mandibles.
"It's hard enough to finally figure it out, but to be the one person everyone's looking toward to help her... and Miranda wonders why she keeps to her cabin so much."
"Are we still talking about Shepard? This is Commander Katherine Shepard we're talking about, Garrus," Bailey asserted, "She's been close to you since what, Sovereign? Weren't you always with her?"
"How would you know that?" Garrus' voices was weaker then he had hoped for.
"Alliance News loved to parade around the fact that Shepard had alien crew, and seemed to prefer them. You were mentioned a lot, seeing as you were practically glued to her side."
Garrus gave a chuckle at that one. Always at her side? Maybe on missions, yes, but he didn't spend too much time with her alone at all, even on shore leave, at least in the beginning-
"Guess I never really realized it at first."
"She's got to be harboring something for you, Garrus. Humans are weird like that, no offense Bailey." Chellick said, looking to the human at the bar.
"None taken. We're a weird ass species anyway, but he's right. It's not an uncommon thing for humans to develop crushes and relationships from friendship. Honestly, it's how most of them start, and how the better ones last say 50 or 60 years."
"Really, now..." Garrus mumbled.
"Absolutely," Bailey confirmed, "The more you know about them, how they act or work or think, the closer you are and the better off you are together. You know her probably better then anyone else in the galaxy save for say, that quarian she kept close, and Kaiden."
"Tali... her name's Tali." Garrus corrected. He remembered how annoyed she got when she was just called 'that quarian', or any use of just generalizing her.
"Tali, then. Don't worry about hurting her, Vakarian," Chellick said, patting his shoulder as Garrus sat up, adjusting his seat, "If anything, it may help her more then you think."
Garrus chuckled a little stronger, grabbing for Chellick's drink regardless of his argument, throwing it back before standing up. Chellick gave a smile, mandibles fluttering for a moment. Bailey chuckled as he raised his glass to his lips.
"Go get her, Garrus!"
"Shut up, Chellick," Garrus threw over his shoulder teasingly.
"She's dreaming, or remembering. Rapid eye movement, some abnormal beta waves. Nothing too serious, or concerning, for Shepard at this point." Chakwas read off, adjusting the Commander's IV drip.
Miranda hummed, looking to Shepard's face as she rested. She had been progressing smoothly toward waking up, and Miranda could finally relax from the fear of something rejecting. Shepard slumbered on in her coma, eyes moving under her eyelids, whatever she was witnessing helping her mind realize that all was safe. They, of course, couldn't confirm that she wouldn't have memories of the hallucinations, but this fix should stop them from happening. Small movements, the increase in dreaming, they were all good signs.
"Is it still possible for her to wake up on her own?" Miranda asked. Chakwas looked to her.
"Absolutely. We may have induced it ourselves, but it's plausible to think she could wake up on her own."
"Mm..."
"Don't worry too much, Miranda," Chakwas continued, moving to her and placing a hand on her shoulder, "The worst has passed for her. She'll be on her feet in no time."
"It's still haunting... I would have caused her death this time if..."
"Miranda."
The ravenette chuckled for a moment. "It's funny. I hadn't thought I'd care so much. She was simply supposed to be solve the Collector problem, and get it done quickly. It's terrifying how I almost felt everything give away when she was carried into the med-bay bleeding in his arms. I really thought I was the cause of it then. I made a mistake that would have ruined everything, for everyone."
Chakwas smiled then, patting Miranda's shoulder once again. "Welcome to the crew of the Normandy, Miranda. I think you finally figured it out."
As Chakwas left, leaving Miranda in the silence of beeping machines and Shepard's breathing, she smiled. It made sense now. Standing up, she looked to Shepard once more before leaving, looking to her right as Garrus walked in.
"Any improvement?" he asked, pausing next to her.
"Well, she's moving her fingers in her sleep. Chakwas said she's starting to dream, so she's close to waking up now."
The relief in his subtle subharmonics made her smile bigger. He had witnessed her pain, the hallucinations at their worst. It also was evident the Commander meant a lot more to him then she did to her.
"She's all yours for the night, Garrus. Take care of her."
Miranda left with those words, drawing a surprised sound from his throat as she left the room. Just over the past week, she had changed greatly. A knowing smile made his mandibles flutter. She had been taken in by Commander Shepard just as the rest of them had before. The door opened for him with a silent hiss, revealing a similar scene from the last time had had been in here. Commander Shepard bedbound, IV connected to her wrist, and the sounds of her monitors making sure she was safe. They had peeled back her blanket to reveal her temporary hospital clothes, a shirt with long sleeves ending at the start of her rib cage.
"You're looking better, Shepard."
He came to her side, as always, and pulled up a chair, watching her chest rise and fall slowly, looking to the slight twitches of her face. He looked to her hands, watching her pointer finger twitch, moving as if she were pulling the trigger of her pistol. His hand hovered above it before letting it wrap around her hand, holding it tight. He came to look to her face once again.
"I met up with Bailey and Chellick today. Both were assholes, as usual. Not really surprised by that, honestly. Though I have to admit, they... helped me figure a few things out."
He let silence settle for a moment, smiling at her as her heart monitor kept making noise, silently tracking her heart. He gently squeezed her hand once. No answer would come, and still he kept talking, as if to keep her updated on the daily comings and goings of the crew.
"Jack and Kasumi almost got in trouble today with C-Sec, which is honestly not surprising. Those two together are almost as bad as you being with either of them. Grunt bought you to something, and I honestly can't tell if it's a gun or something horrible wrong. Either way, we're getting ready to make you feel like a princess and shower you in gifts you probably won't need."
He could see it now: the crew coming up one by one, bestowing upon their captain their gifts. Alcohol, weapons, mods, small trinkets, and whatever else they could find. She probably wouldn't be amused in the slightest, but how could she deny them? He knew Grunt had something, and Kasumi was going to try to do something. Jack, he assumed, was just going to help her in biotic terms since they were both wild biotic users. It was going to be an unpredictable storm once Shepard was awake and back on her feet, he knew that. She had just started the team, and they were already coming close around her.
Her fingers moved in his hand, drawing his eyes as they moved and flexed, as if they were stretching. He loosened his grip. He watched her fingers move and stretch slowly, and let his eyes trail up to her face.
Her eyelashes (that's what they were called right?) fluttered, as if her eyes would dare open. He stood as he leaned in to watch, her mouth curling into a grimace.
"Shepard...?"
Her eyes opened into cracks, whining softly as the light hit her eyes. Her breath made her chest rise quicker, trying to get used to the brightness. He reached over to the wall and let the lights dim somewhat more. Her eyes opened more, raising her IV-bound hand to her eyes before realizing the weight on her wrist. She looked to it curiously, confused for a moment.
"W-Where..."
"Shepard."
She dropped her hand to her chest, looking over to Garrus as he returned to her side. She blinked rapidly, trying to filter through the empty space in her memory. She remembered being on the Normandy, and Garrus was behind her, holding her. She had seen Saren in front of her, trying to grab her and pull her away and destroy her. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to calm the headache ripping through her skull before opening them to Garrus once again looking down at her with worry.
"Where am I?"
"Huerta Memorial, on the Citadel."
She looked back to her IV attached to her wrist. That would explain that and the plainshirt she was wearing.
"Why? I thought I only blacked out after the... hallucination."
Garrus' mandibles fluttered gently, twice in succession. He was nervous. "It was more then that."
"How worse?" Worry sunk into her words. Garrus looked away for a moment, before reaching out for one of her hands. She let him take it, feeling the quiet quakes in the muscles.
"You had a hemorrhagic stroke, Shepard."
Bleeding into the brain and skull. The damage done to her brain had almost killed her. Her worry sunk into confusion, and from confusion to disbelief. Her hands moved to touch her head, immediately finding the scars that would have saved her life. She closed her eyes, and set her hands back down.
"I almost died on you again, on everyone."
"Shepard..."
She took a deep breath, opening her eyes again to watch him. His eyes spoke of sorrow, of the struggle he had to bear as she lay in a hospital bed comatose. He had been there when it happened, and bore witness of her second near death to date. She remembered his hand on hers, the rough but gentle feeling of his talons against her skin. She gave a weak smile that collapsed as quickly as it started.
"Thank you for saving me, Garrus." she whispered.
"It wasn't just me, you know," Garrus explained, walking up and just gently brushing his hand against one of hers, "Without Chakwas, and Joker, and Miranda... well let's just say you wouldn't probably remember me. They were worried that you would have some damage after that."
"Is part of my face sagging?"
"What?"
Shepard reached up to her face, pressing her fingers into her cheeks. "Sometimes when people have seizures, parts of their face sag like it's full of water."
"You're okay, Shepard. No sagging or damage, it seems."
That confused look returned to her face. "I would have thought... how long was I out, Garrus?"
That scared look returned to his face, and she immediately felt worse for making him look like that. Again, the bitter voice within reminded her, you made her worry and suffer for you again.
"You've been in a coma for a little over a week now. Miranda and Chakwas wanted to let you heal."
He looked to his hands, letting the information settle. When she had started having that last hallucination, she suffered a stroke that started to bleed into her brain, and blacked out as a result. She had been rushed to the Citadel for treatment with Garrus, Chakwas, and the crew, and for a week had been comatose to let her heal, and to no doubt keep an eye on her in case anything else happened. She reached out for his hand, and oddly enough Garrus met her hand halfway, holding it carefully between his talons.
"Miranda and Chakwas working together... who knew I just needed to get hurt again to make them play nice."
Garrus shrugged, taking a seat next to her. "Well it wasn't some small feat that made them work together. They put their heads together for you. You got some shiny new cybernetics in your brain now thanks to them."
"Does that mean my head is going to glow in the dark now, Garrus?"
He gave a laugh, happy to see she was making jokes, lighthearted despite knowing she had almost left them again. She smiled, squeezing his fingers a little. His laughter died, pausing to watch her fingers move and wiggle once again. She caught his eyes, smoky grey reflected in emotional turquoise.
"I'll let you know if you glow, Shepard." he finally answered, her smile growing.
"Am I glwoing now? It's rather dark in here."
He stood with the words, "Let me check", and moved to hover over her head, just gently moving her chin so he could look for the telltale sign of her orange cybernetics glowing. She knew the ones in her face, not entirely yet healed, still glowed.
"Your hair seems to hide it, if it is glowing through your thick skull."
"Was that an insult, Vakarian?" she teased, drawing another soft laugh from him.
"Not at all, even if I loathe how you put yourself in danger all the time. Think about me: I have to race after you on your six when you decide to charge like a krogan."
It was Shepard's turn to laugh. "Yes, but with you on my six, it let's me continue charging because you're absolutely amazing at using that sniper rifle of yours."
"Just waking up from a week long nap, and you're flattering me. Are you flirting with me, Commander?"
Her face admittedly couldn't stop from blushing lightly, squeezing his hand to draw her eyes anywhere but his. It didn't work out completely, so she submitted to it.
"And what if I am?"
"The more you know about them, how they act or work or think, the closer you are and the better off you are together. You know her probably better then anyone else in the galaxy save for say, that quarian she kept close, and Kaidan."
Bailey's words came back to haunt him kindly, and he couldn't think of how he somehow owed him for giving him advice on how to hit on Commander Shepard, of all people. His neck gently turned blue around his cowl, as his squeezed her hand back.
"I don't think I would mind it at all. It's rather nice."
Her smile grew cocky. "Worried no krogan girls will see your scars and say 'take me now'?"
"Not really," he countered, his voice matching her smile, "While you were healing, I did some research of my own."
"Oh?"
"I didn't think scars were attractive to human woman, and I was proven wrong."
Her smile oddly wavered before it solidified. "Don't tell me you went out with another girl, Garrus. I was only out for a week."
He laughed this time, sensing that jealous spark before she would ever admit it. He knew her best, and just wanted to see the wheels turn in her head at that one. He moved his fingers so they were intertwined, as close as they could with eight fingers between the two of them.
"I didn't go cheating, I promise. Besides, there's no point in looking when I have what I need here."
Shepard hadn't expected that kind of response, her face lighting up just a little brighter as she took in what he had said. Garrus lagged behind, and finally realized how that came out, blue flush covering his neck as he hid his mouth and mandibles. He couldn't stop his subharmonics, however, and she could hear clear the embarrassment and fluster. She looked down to their intertwined hands, and to the blue rising up his neck. He was blushing, or at least she hoped he was. She could hear her heart monitor tick off her heartbeats just a little faster.
"That did not come out correct, or it did and-," Garrus stopped himself, "Well then..."
"You're still holding my hand." Her voice hadn't meant to be heard, but he caught it anyway, looking to their intertwined digits.
"Oh, I'm sorry about that, Shepard."
He didn't immediately move his hand out of hers, content in looking at it for a moment before coughing into his hand and taking it back. Shepard looked at him, still red in her cheeks, with concern and just a small pinch of disappointment.
"You know... it isn't bad to say that, Garrus."
He couldn't exactly meet her warm eyes, still letting loose the song of embarrassment under his voice. "I assumed that you were... w-well I didn't exactly mean to-"
"Garrus."
Her voice drew his to a stop. She was firm but gentle, a calming cry around the sudden storm around him. He had messed everything up in one sentence, or so it seemed. Her smile made the room dim, nothing but the curl of her lips shining in the dark.
"It's alright, you nervous bird. It's honestly really amazing to hear that from you. I can understand the embarrassment, though."
"How could you-?"
The bright smile she had turned cocky once again. "Unlike everyone else in the galaxy, I've learned to read your subharmonics. That and I was taught by a few turians in N-school, so I learned quick to hear them and interpret them."
That brought him to attention, his hand coming to his throat.
"And to think I was worried about you being different after your seizure..." he whispered, trying to drown the fluster inside him with humor.
"Even if there was, I'd still call you a space bird and make fun of your face."
It worked, thank goodness. He let his mandibles open and close, a turian smile. "I thought you'd love the scars. A lot of other human woman like them."
"They sometimes worry me, but I can't deny that they look good on you."
"You're lying to me."
"Never in a million years, Garrus."
Miranda and Chakwas hadn't expected to walk in the next morning to Shepard talking silently to Garrus as passed in and out of sleep, having slept weirdly while leaning against her hospital bed. The door signaled their arrival, and their eyes were glued to them. Shepard smiled and didn't even need to beckon them before Garrus moved out of the way and let Chakwas and Miranda to her side. The good doctor hugged her Commander tight, whispering that she was relieved to know Shepard was alright. She looked to Miranda, and wondered what she would do, and was surprised when the once chilled ice queen hugged her as well.
"I'm glad I didn't kill you, Shepard."
She chuckled, patting Miranda's back. "I'm pretty sure it was my fault."
"It... It wasn't. There was a part of your brain that hadn't healed correctly and... it was stupid mistake to leave a wound like that on you and I'm sorry for risking your life."
"Miranda..." her voice spoke her surprise for her, smiling after a moment before taking hold of one of her shoulders. "I accept your apology. I should have come forward earlier with my hallucination problem and we could have figured this out before it got so bad."
"We both made grave mistakes, but I'm glad you forgive me," Miranda explained, smiling back, "I assume Garrus told you about the fix we did?"
"He said it could possibly glow if my hair was out of the way."
She looked to the turian, confused and bewildered.
Garrus nodded. "I checked last night. Pretty sure if you move all of her hair away, her scalp would glow where you put those cybernetics."
"It's in her brain, Garrus." Miranda said plainly, "How could it glow through her skull?"
Shepard made a pose with one arm as Chakwas worked on her IV and other arm with a smile.
"I am Shepard, and I glow in the dark thanks to cool cybernetics in my head!"
Miranda looked between the smug turian and her smiling Commander and let out a puff of air, a small little laugh.
"I think I definitely figured it out, Chakwas." she murmured.
Everyone beamed at each other, Miranda's cold shield breaking as they moved around Shepard, making sure she was well and comfortable, joking here and there, pausing for a good laugh and a tender moment. It was as if they weren't in Shepard's hospital room, surrounded by the sound of her monitor sounding off her heart. It was the Normandy mess hall, coffee in hand as they joked and played around at the table, enjoying a silent morning together.
Miranda took a moment to herself at the far end of the room as Shepard, Chakwas, and Garrus spoke of the past events of the week. She had been initially confused by Chakwas' words, of being welcomed to the crew and understanding it all now. Looking to these three laughing friends, knowing now she could join without drawing a bad look, made her happy. She had a clearer conscious about her actions, knowing that she wasn't going to burn for messing up.
"I'm happy to be part of the crew, Shepard."