Authors note at the bottom this time. ENJOY!

"Then she says, 'you're my hero Mr. Massani'," Zaeed teased, putting on his best women's tone.

"Oh you are so full of shit," Shepard said with a grin, slamming her tea on the Mess Hall table. "That's not what I said."

"That's how I remember it."

"Yeah well your memory got fucked up with your face."

"Harsh, Red."

Garrus, accompanied by several others in the crew, laughed along as Zaeed told more stories of his past with Shepard. Her days in training, how she had kicked ass and finished the boot camp in eight months, how he had taken credit for The Blitz and the defeat of Saren, claiming that since he discovered her all her successes were technically his.

Garrus found himself oddly conflicted. On the one hand: this new person to emerge from Shepard's past had shown him just what it was like to be the third wheel when he and Shepard would go on with each other, ignoring any and all other members of the crew who might have been with them. It was an odd feeling of insecurity for him. Sure it was tough to watch her always flirting with Thane, but as annoying as it was he never felt like his position as her oldest friend was ever threatened.

Suddenly here is this figure from her past, almost like a long lost family member, emerging and receiving unrivaled affection. He felt like his ability to say 'no one knew her like he did' was shaky at best now. This human knew her as a kid, presumably after she had killed Carmine. He knew about her gory history, he had set her on her life path, and she had respected him as a superior officer. Spirits, it was like the story of Shepard and Garrus meeting, but with an old mercenary playing the part of the trust worthy superior earning the loyalty of the pissed off newbie. His mind boggled at the very concept.

Even with all of that aside, Shepard and Zaeed were so alike they may as well have been father and daughter. They told the same jokes, used the same words, and even had a lot of the same mannerisms. It was unnerving.

Garrus sighed. On the other hand: this was the happiest he had ever seen her, and he wasn't about to mess that up. Not for anything.

"You should totally come with us!" Shepard said. "We have to get something off this old abandoned Reaper so we can go through the Omega 4."

"I see you're just as goddamn loony as ever. No one's come back from going through the Omega 4."

"You, more than anyone, should know better than to tell me that."

He laughed through his nose as he looked at her. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, I suppose I do."

There was an awkward silence before Zaeed spoke again.

"Where in the hell am I supposed to sleep on this giant thing? Down with the trash compactor?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Z. I have a couch upstairs."

"A couch huh? I suppose the tables have finally turned, Kiddo."

"Come on!" She pleaded, almost like a teenager would. "There's bound to be a bunch of things we need to kill, there always are. We can tear shit up together again. It'll be just like old times!"

Garrus took that opportunity to stand up: putting in sufficient effort to not look bothered.

"If we're going to take on that Reaper tomorrow," he said. "I'm going to go ahead and turn in."

"Oh, yeah okay, Garrus. Rest up. Big day tomorrow."

"You got it, Shepard."

Garrus locked gazes briefly with Zaeed, but broke the eye contact immediately before making his way into the Battery.

"Come on," Shepard said standing. "We'll go upstairs."

"Huh?"

She motioned her head to Garrus as he walked away. "He can hear us from in there and he won't be able to sleep."

"Still too considerate for your own good I see."

"We can't all be selfish assholes like you. Come on."

"So where have you been?" Shepard asked as she stepped off the elevator and headed into her quarters.

"Jesus Christ!" Zaeed said, stepping into the Loft. "Nice Digs."

"I know. It's a god damn disgrace."

"Disgrace my ass, Red. This is like heaven."

"Maybe that's why I'm so uncomfortable here." She turned and sat at the edge of her bed with an exhale as he leaned his shoulder on the pillar at the top of the stairs. "You didn't answer my question."

"Well, after my little," he moved his head back and forth looking for words. "Misunderstanding with Vito, I went into a coma for the better part of a year as some quack on Illium tried to piece my face back together."

"Looks like he used a fucking hammer."

"Hilarious," Zaeed said with a smile. "Anyway, once I came to, I found out I was declared dead. Decided to keep it that way."

"You said you were in contact with Anderson. Why him and not me? I didn't take you leaving the Alliance to play merc very well, if you'll recall. I took your death even worse."

"I know, I know, but you were all grown up by the time I caught up with you. You were on some General's crew and were climbing the ranks like a bullet. What would reminding you I was around have done but interrupted your successes? Plus I had a score with Vito that needed settling. That took precedence as I recall."

"So why find me now? What changed?"

He exhaled and looked down at his feet before turning to look back at her.

"You died, Jane. That's what changed." He made his way down the stairs and plopped himself across from her on the couch. "I was on Zorya when I got the call, chasing down Vito on some refinery he had taken control of. I was waiting for some friends of mine to show up when I got a message from Anderson, telling me you had gone down with the goddamn ship, trying to save everyone like the mad altruist you've always been." He exhaled and put his head in his hand. "I killed a lot of people trying to make the anger go away."

"Did it?"

"No."

"And Vito?"

"Vito, uh," he cleared his throat. "He got away from me toward the end. Still haven't found him again, but to tell you the truth I'm tired of chasing him. I chased him for damn near seven years or so. It was all I did, all I thought about; I saw him every time I closed my eyes. Then you died an'…well… it just didn't seem so important anymore."

"Aw, Z, I didn't know you cared."

"Bite me you batty guttersnipe."

She laughed and tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Alright so how did you find me then?"

"The Reds."

"What? Really?"

"Yeah. I was apparently on Omega at the same time as you and there were rumors floating around that you had made a triumphant return somewhere. I heard a lot of chatter through the channels that the Reds were operating in the traverse and lead by none other than Gideon Torren, that disgusting tosser. I knew that couldn't be a coincidence, them larking about Omega the same month I hear you've come back from the dead. I looked into it, followed some leads, and eventually pulled a favor from Aria who told me that they had taken you captive on the Augustine and none other than Archangel was on the case."

"Archangel hmmm?" She said coyly. "Never heard of him."

"Don't play dumb with me. I may not have put it together until you introduced me to him, but I know that's him downstairs. Anyway, according to Aria, he was damn near foaming at the mouth to get you back. Stormed Afterlife and demanded your whereabouts."

Shepard smiled and looked off the side. "Foaming at the mouth, huh?"

"I tried to go after you, you know," he said. "If Gideon had you in his grimy clutches again I was going to make damn well sure it wasn't for long. But by the time I started to make a plan, a few of my boys said that the ship had exploded."

"That was all Garrus, you know."

"Was it now?"

"Yeah." She kicked her feet and let out a sigh. "He didn't sleep until he found me. I was in pretty bad shape when he got there. Once I was safe he wouldn't leave until Gideon was dead."

"Sounds like my kind of guy."

"Mine too," she said with a smile.

Zaeed's eyes narrowed and a smile crept across his face as he clicked his tongue in his mouth. "You know," he said. "The bounty for Archangel is still open. A lot of people want him dead pretty badly and there's good money to be made in turning him over."

"Forget it," Shepard snapped. "As far as you're concerned Archangel is dead, you got it?"

He laughed. "Sweet on the turian are ya? Color me surprised, Red."

She blushed and furrowed her brow, realizing she'd been played.

"Christ it's like you never left, still giving me shit about everything."

"What's he doing sleeping in the goddamn Battery when your bed is the size of a small island?"

"I'm sweet on him Z, not the other way around."

"Ah."

"Yeah. Ah."

"Well, look at you," he continued. "Just as pretty as the day I met you. I don't think he'd turn you down or anything."

"You're probably right, on a physical level of some kind. But that's not what I want, you know? Garrus is, well, he's different. He's the best friend I've got, the closest thing to family I've ever had, knows me better than even you thanks to you turning your back on the Alliance and eventually getting yourself dead."

"Don't be ugly about it," Zaeed teased.

She smiled before looking back down at her knees. "I don't know, Z. You remember how I was back then; never with the same man twice, going through them like tissue paper. Christ you were one of the only men in my life back then I didn't sleep with. It only got worse after you abandoned the Alliance to go chase the merc dream. It got worse again after you died. I don't want to have to see him walk away like the rest of them. I don't think I could handle it."

Zaeed reached across the space and took her hands in his.

"He's not me, Jane."

Shepard swallowed down her nerves, but said nothing, so Zaeed continued.

"Since you were a little girl, even though you were always surrounded by people, you were still all alone. Even with me you were just waiting for the clock to run out. That's why you turned down those promotions while you served under me, right? If you left, you knew it was only a matter of time before I left."

"And you left anyway."

"I was holding you back, Jane, and you know it. I planned on leaving for a long time, and when I found out that you were offered a promotion three times and turned it down, I knew it was so you could stay on with me."

"So? What's wrong with loyalty?"

"I'm not saying anything is wrong with it, but look at you. Look at all you've accomplished since then. You're the big goddamn hero I always knew you were going to be."

"What's your point, Old Man?"

"Would you shut that trap of yours for five goddamn minutes? Christ you're aggravating. My point is that…" He exhaled and looked down at his hands before giving hers a squeeze. "Red, if the spiky sniper makes you feel like you're not alone anymore, then you need to grab onto it with both hands."

"Isn't that what I'm doing? If I fess up and we have to have that 'thanks but not thanks' conversation, our friendship is over."

"Jesus Christ, who are you? You're Commander Goddamn Shepard. Get your head out of your ass and stop being such a pussy. If you're afraid of a little rejection than we're all fucked."

She laughed, genuinely.

"I just," She sighed and looked up at him. "I don't want to mess up the only thing I'm managing to do right."

"Only thing you've done right my wrinkly balls! Between Saren and The Blitz you've done more with your life than I ever could."

"Yeah alright, maybe you win in the 'making my own life a mess' department."

"Oh good," he said sitting back on the couch. "You're still an intolerable bitch. And here I was starting to worry Cerberus removed that part of your brain."

"Trapped on a Reaper?" Garrus said. "And I thought this was going to be easy."

"Yeah. Great," Shepard replied, resting her shotgun on her shoulder.

"Not just trapped," Joker said over their comms. "The barriers are the only thing maintaining the Reaper's altitude."

"So let me get this straight," Zaeed said. "The giant alive ship monster thing put up barriers trapping us in here, but that's also the only thing keeping the goddamn thing from diving into the planet core?"

"Yeah," Shepard continued. "So when we shut the barriers down…"

"Everyone dies, yeah I got it," Joker scoffed.

"I'm not worried," Shepard said giving Garrus a smile. "Garrus, are you worried?"

"Why would I be worried, Shepard, when we have Joker?"

"See buddy? We believe in you."

"I hate you guys."

Shepard laughed and they all made their way through the ship, taking out husks and abominations of every sort along the way.

"Hang on a minute," Zaeed said after they listened to another recording. "So even though this thing is dead, it still indoctrinated people?"

"Looks that way," Shepard said.

"So they're even powerful when they're dead," Garrus said with an exhale. "This doesn't bode well for us."

"Alright, Pauley Pessimist, can we get a move on please?" Shepard loaded her gun with a new clip and followed Zaeed to the balcony.

"What in the world is this?" Zaeed said, looking over the railing. "Christ this whole place is a nightmare."

"We've seen these before," Shepard said.

"Dragon's teeth, you called them," Garrus offered, moving to Shepard's side behind the railing. "I guess this confirms them as Reaper tech."

"I was afraid of that."

"Jesus if those things can change humans into those…those…abominations…" Zaeed continued. "What would they do if they started harvesting everyone else?"

"What are you thinking, Z?"

"Think about it, Jane. If these goddamn things started changing Krogans into husks we've got about as much chance of surviving as a snowball does in hell."

"Maybe they don't work on Krogan?" Garrus tried. "I've never seen them change anything but humans into husks. Maybe they're specifically designed that way."

"Let's hope so," Shepard said, shaking off a severe chill that surged down her back. "I got a bad feeling about this place."

"Well I'll be damned," Zaeed said, shaking a bit of blue goop off his shoe. "You're a hell of shot with that thing."

"What'd you think I keep him around for?" Shepard said, jabbing Garrus in the ribs with the butt of her gun.

"And here I thought it was my charm and good looks," Garrus replied, tossing her that smile of his.

"Yeah right. Cuz I have a weakness for giant bird-monsters."

"The sooner you admit how sexy you think I am the sooner we can move on."

"Oh you are such a dick."

Blam. Blam.

Shepard and Garrus both jumped as they looked back at the husks that had apparently been closing in on them, only to find that they had been shot in between the eyes. Garrus and Zaeed came up on Shepard's side as they looked up at a geth sniper. It was standing up from a sniping position before it lowered its gun and spoke.

"Shepard. Commander," it said, almost by way of greeting, before it turned and walked away.

The three organics stood there together, mouths open, completely baffled.

"What in the jabbering-fucking-christ just happened?" Zaeed said, looking to Shepard for an answer.

"I don't know, Z, that wasn't exactly commonplace."

"Red, a vibrator with legs knows your goddamn name."

"Lots of people know my name!" She defended.

"Shepard," Garrus interjected. "That wasn't exactly people."

"Why in googly hell does everyone assume I know what the fuck is going on?"

"Stay on them!" Shepard shouted as she unloaded a missile into the barrier core.

Shepard was at the front of the platform, trying to bring down the barriers before the shield came back up. Garrus and Zaeed were behind her, trying to keep the wave of husks and abominations in check so she could get the job done.

"Any time now, Shepard," Garrus scolded.

"Blood hell," Zaeed said, kicking a husk in the chest before blasting it with his shotgun. "We've gotta get out of here, Red, or we'll be over run."

"Thanks for the news flash, asshole," Shepard shouted, taking the pin out of a grenade with her teeth and tossing it into the fray. "Grenade!"

Garrus took one down on the far end of the room before turning and blasting the butt of his rifle into the face of a husk coming up from the other side.

The shield opened again and that eerie hum filled the space, making Garrus' teeth grind in his mouth.

"Focus all fire!" Shepard shouted. The two men acknowledged the order and the three of them unloaded whatever was left in their clips into the core of the machine. A thunderous 'crack' resounded through the hull and blue electricity and sparks exploded into the room. "Get down" Shepard shouted as they all dove out of the way.

Zaeed and Garrus dove in the same direction, but Shepard rolled to her left, down the ramp. She pushed herself up on her hands, trying to catch her breath, when a hand came from over the ledge and grabbed onto her ankle and pulled her. She turned over onto her back and fired her gun down at it, but her clip was still empty.

"Shit," she said, as she reached for a clip, only to find there were none on her belt. More hands came from over the ledge and grabbed onto her, some continuing to crawl up on top of her.

Garrus had been helping Zaeed to his feet when he turned to see Jane covered in husks, slowly getting pulled over the ledge.

"Jane!" he shouted, forsaking Zaeed and jumping over the railing.

"No!" Shepard shouted, pointing away from her. "Garrus go!" Shepard threw the butt of her rifle into another husk's face then turned to try and grab onto something. Her gauntlets screeched as they clawed on the metal floor trying to keep herself from going over. She scrambled, kicked her feet, threw husks off her back, tried everything she could: but still she fell. She gripped the side of the ledge with her arms, feeling herself slipping, watching Garrus run for her. She tried to hold on, but there were so many, and she was so tired.

Garrus dove for her just as she lost her grip, just barely managing to catch her wrist in his hand. He had been going so fast he almost slid over the edge himself, but managed to catch himself the railing with his free hand.

As he struggled to pull her up with the added weight of the husks, the image sent a very familiar chill through his core as he realized it was one he had seen before. The nightmare he'd had months ago of Saren pulling Shepard down into oblivion as Garrus flailed uselessly in an attempt to pull her to safety.

Shepard grunted as she tried to pull husks off of her armor with her free hand, flailing her legs in an attempt to free herself. She winced as the husks beat their fists into her armor, making her shields fizzle and drop. Garrus snapped himself out of his terrified haze and a growl erupted from his throat.

This wasn't a dream; this was different. This time Saren wasn't here. This time he wasn't helpless.

This time he had a gun.

"Not this time, Shepard" Garrus said, grinding his teeth against the effort. He ventured to release his grip on the railing long enough to un-holster his pistol and trained it down on her attackers. He fired five shots, each of them sending a bullet through a husk's skull, until they all fell away. Without the added weight, Garrus abandoned his pistol over the ledge and reached for Shepard's other hand. She swung her arm up and caught it, and as he lifted her toward him, she released her grip on one of his hands to grab the side of the ledge. With one of his hands freed, he moved it to her waist to continue lifting her up over the side.

Zaeed came to Garrus' side and took the liberty of pulling Jane up over the ledge by the back of her armor. Garrus stayed in the position he was in, rather exhausted from the ordeal.

They all sat there for a minute, panting, trying to catch a moment of reprieve.

"Nice save," Zaeed said, hands on his knees and nodding at the turian.

Shepard didn't say anything, just reached over, and put her hand on Garrus'.

The moment didn't last long; the whole ship seized and tossed them to the side.

"We're out of time!" Shepard said, scrambling to her feet. "We have to get out of here."

"What about this thing?" Zaeed said, making his way to the platform and tapping the geth with his foot. "It'd be a hell of a trophy. Probably worth a bloody fortune."

"Leave it," Garrus said, making his way there. "We have enough problems."

"Tali said no one's ever captured a geth in tact before," Shepard said, eyeing the machine.

"You know the risks," Garrus scoffed, realizing she had already made a decision. "So that's all I'm going to say."

"Grab it, Z," Shepard said, trying to lift it up off the ground.

It was much easier to carry once they left the chamber and the gravity lightened up considerably. As Joker pulled the Normandy up to the extraction point, the port-side airlock opened across from them. Shepard and Zaeed tossed the machine over the space and it soared, almost carelessly, into the door where Hadley was waiting to grab it.

"Go," Shepard said, turning to take down a few from the new wave of husks closing in.

Zaeed took a few steps back before charging and gaining what momentum he could to grab Hadley's forearm and pulling himself onto the ship.

"Garrus, go. Double time it."

"Negative, Commander," Garrus shouted, firing a few more bullets into a few more husks. "After you."

"God damn it, Garrus this isn't a debate! I gave you an or-WAGH!"

Garrus knew they were running out of time. But after watching her almost get lost in a sea of husks, he wasn't about to leave before she was safe. Instead he turned and grabbed her by the back of her armor and threw her, like a sack of grain, through the empty space to the ship. Zaeed and Hadley reached out and grabbed her, pulling her in, before Garrus stepped back to jump on board.

Just like they had done to Shepard, the husks grabbed Garrus, pulling his ankles out from under him just as he went to jump. He fell slowly onto the ground as the husks overtook him.

"Garrus," Shepard shouted. They tried to pour out cover fire, but the lack of solid gravity was making it almost useless from the distance they were at. "God damn it, let go of me!" he could hear Shepard shout. Garrus rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself up with his hands, forsaking the husks that were still on him, throwing sloppy fists into his shields. He tried to ignore them as he used nothing but whatever strength he could muster to stand himself up and punch his toes against the ledge.

Shepard grabbed Zaeed's forearm in her hand and jumped out of the doorway, reaching across the space and grabbing Garrus by his chest armor as he lazily drifted through the air. Zaeed used his other hand to shoot off a few husks that were still clinging to the sniper, before pulling them safely on board. Just as the bay door closed, the gravity kicked in and the two of them crashed onto the ground; tangled in each other's arms.

"Nice save," Garrus said, panting, but smiling.

Shepard didn't say anything, just stood and rushed into the Cockpit.

"We're safe," she shouted. "Get us the hell out of here, Joker."

"Aye aye, hang on everybody."

The ground team hurriedly followed after Shepard and she crashed against the far wall as the FTL drive kicked in, pulling hard to starboard to get out of the Reaper's gravitational field.

"What the fuck was that?" Shepard roared, ripping off her helmet. Her curls fell out of it haphazardly and settled around her shoulders. The rage in her face told Garrus that he was not about to like the ensuing conversation. "What the fuck is the matter with you!"

"What are we talking about?" Garrus asked, removing his own helmet. "The first time I saved your ass? Or the second?"

"Don't you play dumb with me, motherfucker, you know what I'm talking about."

"Shepard, calm down," he said, putting a hand up. "I just made sure you got onto the ship. That's all."

"At the cost of almost getting killed?"

"Hardly," He said with a smile, sinking into his foot, hoping his usual humor would derail whatever was pissing her off so much. "I'm surprised you have such little faith in me."

"God damn it, Vakarian. This isn't a fucking joke!"

Her voice cracked through the hull of the ship, silencing everyone on the deck. Garrus looked at her and studied the fury in her face, trying to pin point why she was so furious about this. Sure it didn't help his case that the husks had almost gotten the best of him, but he was safe now. Why was she so livid? This wasn't the first time he had done something like that, why was this so different? Twice in the same hour he had forsaken her authority to help her, why was she suddenly so angry about the second? He wanted to pose these questions to her, make his thoughts known, but he couldn't formulate the thoughts into words. Instead she continued to yell.

"I don't know what has been going on with you lately," She said, poking him hard in the chest. "But it has to stop. Now. I've made it this long without a father; I don't need you to take up the god damn mantle."

"Shepard," Garrus said, getting irritated at being compared to a father figure again. "You can't keep putting the crew before yourself. We need you. When are you going to realize that?"

"Never," she shouted, glaring daggers up at him. "Now you listen to me and you listen good. I have been nothing but forgiving for your bullshit lately. I let it slide when you threw a tantrum in front of the crew because I wasn't taking you on the heist. I pretended to forget about how you found me on the Augustine and promised, promised me, that you were going to take care of everything, only to wake up and find that you had charged onto the ship with no backup. I even shrugged off how you showed up out of nowhere to pick us up and then addressed me like a fucking child in front of my crew. But I draw the line now, Garrus. I draw the fucking line at you disobeying a direct order and almost getting yourself, or maybe someone else, killed. If whatever this paternal feeling you've developed for me doesn't tone down, I will drop your scaly ass off on Palaven and go through the Omega 4 without you, do you understand? This mission is too important for me to lose my command. And it's certainly more important than this…this…" She sighed and looked down, putting a hand on her chest like the words hurt her. "This overwhelming need I have to keep you at my side all the time." She looked back up at him and the angry tears that filled her eyes made his heart sink into his stomach. "If you, my best friend, the person I trust above all else, don't respect me, how in the hell do you expect the rest of the crew to respect me? Whenever you have had a problem with my orders you have pulled me aside and we have discussed it in private, and it is the fact that I have the utmost respect for you that I have even taken what you said into consideration. But this is different, and it's dangerous, and I will not allow anyone to get killed because of it. This change in you, it… I can't allow it anymore. I don't know what caused it but…" Her eyebrows upturned, almost as if realization was hitting her face. Her features softened and the sadness quickly overtook the anger. "Was it the Augustine? Was it seeing me so helpless, at the mercy of that psycho? Is that what made you stop respecting me?"

"Jane…" he breathed. Not because he was trying to speak softly, but because her words had completely knocked the wind out of him. They hit him harder than any physical blow ever could have. He felt his knees shake as the moment stung between them, hanging in the air and vibrating like a sourly plucked string. *

She waved a hand dismissively as she moved down the CIC toward the elevator.

"Forget about it," she said, shoulder checking him as she passed. "It's done."

He turned and watched her go. If ever there was a time when he knew he needed to say something, it was now. But the words wouldn't come. Instead he just watched in stunned silence as the distance between them grew and grew. Zaeed gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder as he passed, following after Shepard. He caught up and loaded onto the elevator with her before the doors shut.

Garrus just stood there. He just… stood there.

"Yeeeeaaahhh…." Joker said, swiveling around in his chair. "You should probably fix that."

The line with the asterisk was taken from a story I like a shout out to you guys to go read her story. If you like a good Thane-mance, I highly recommend it. It's one of my faves so far. Her name is Exia and the story is Syndonic Day. I don't shout out stories unless they are actually worth reading (as you can see by the fact that I never have before). So go. Read it. Srsly.

Love you guys as always!

Roarkshop