I'll follow you…
As the Reapers advanced, all of London, hell, all of Earth, fought a losing battle. Buildings crumpled and fell in mountains of dust and ash, as Reaper dreadnoughts pressed forward, pushing back battalions at a time. Screams and gunfire could be heard beyond the main FOB from ground forces on either side. Throughout the Forward Operations Base, soldiers spoke of plans of attack and counted their losses in hushed voices. Urdnot Wrex's voice carried over several toppled buildings as he spoke to his unit.
Garrus was coordinating with a turian general as Shepard walked into the ruined building. The other turian continued to speak as Garrus watched Shepard glance his way and turn towards the Primarch, a shadow of doubt flitting across her face before she recovered from it. As brief as it was, he still noticed it.
If anyone else but Garrus had looked at her, they would have seen her as confident and sure this war was going to turn in their favor... they would have seen her as the war hero that she was. But he noticed the way her shoulders were slumped a bit, how she dragged her feet across the broken concrete floor, and how she faked a smile for the Primarch, thanking him for keeping his promise. He also took a glimpse at her biometrics through his visor. They were off the charts. Her heart rate was elevated, as was her blood pressure, and her breathing had quickened, reflecting her nervousness about the impending battle. He knew she was doubtful anything good would come of this.
As she approached him, Garrus quickly finished his conversation with other turian and turned toward her.
"Shepard…," he breathed. "So I guess this is…"
"Just like old times?" she finished, leaning back, averting her eyes and avoiding him, choosing to look at the wall to his right instead.
He was unsure of whether he should laugh or not, considering the circumstances they found themselves in.
"Hmm… Might be the last chance we get to say that," he said, inching slightly toward her. She frowned up at him, finally making eye contact.
"What? You think we're gonna lose?" she asked, her voice trembling.
"No… I think we're about to kick the Reapers back into whatever black hole they crawled out of… Then we're going to retire somewhere warm and tropical and live off the royalties from the vids…," he paused, chuckling to himself. Cautiously, he continued, "Maybe… even find out what a turian-human baby looks like…"
Surprisingly, Shepard managed to laugh, in spite of what they were getting into. She even cracked a smile, the corners of her mouth turning upward.
"I'm game… though I think adoption's a better idea… Biology may not cooperate," she said, the smile slowly flickering out like a flame. She crossed her arms and sank into a hip, as she always did when she was regarding someone or a situation.
"Huh… I suppose there will be a lot of little krogan around soon…"
She hung her head and broke eye contact, her doubts returning, "We just have to beat the Reapers first…"
Garrus turned slightly away from her, quickly trying to think of something… anything… to say that would comfort her. Recalling a conversation he and Vega had during their shore leave, he said, "James told me there's an old saying here on Earth, 'May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you're dead…'" Turning back to face her, he continued, "Not sure if turian heaven is the same as yours… But if this thing goes sideways, and we both end up there… meet me at the bar… I'm buying."
She lowered her voice, perhaps to keep the Primarch from overhearing, or perhaps because she was struggling to even say it, "We're a team, Garrus. There's no Shepard without Vakarian…" Then almost as if scolding him, she said, "So you better remember to duck."
On a whim, without even thinking about it, he attempted to make the dumbest joke of his life. Even before it was out of his mouth, he wished he could have taken it back and said something smarter… funnier… more comforting…, "Sorry. Turians don't know how… but I'll improvise."
Recovering from the rubbish that had fallen from his mandibles, and before Shepard could say anything else, he said, "And Shepard… Forgive the insubordination, but your boyfriend has an order for you…"
He reached out and took both her gloved hands in his, squeezing them gently. Their armor clanked awkwardly together as he pulled her even closer, though he ignored it. Looking her dead in the eyes, he said with all the gravity of the universe, "Come back alive… It'd be an awfully empty galaxy without you…"
A single tear leaked from the corner of her eye, and streamed down her cheek. Inhaling, she rose up on her tippy toes, and pressed her lips to his mandibles as hard as she could. He wrapped his arms around her waist as she grasped his neck, her gloved fingers, running over his scars. He didn't need his visor to feel her heart beating out of her chest, her face now stained with tears. She leaned in, close to his ear and whispered, just loud enough for him to hear, "Goodbye Garrus… And if I'm up there at that bar, and you're not… I'll be looking down…"
Her voice quavered and finally cracked, "You'll never be alone…"
Reluctantly, they broke apart, and she walked away, furiously wiping her eyes and her face of tears.
As the door she walked through, shut, Garrus exhaled and whispered to no one in particular, "Never…" Hoisting his Black Widow over his shoulder, he quietly added, "I love you, Shepard…"
An inexplicable sadness abruptly seeped through him, and hung over his head for the next few moments, like a black rain cloud, as the Primarch eyed him curiously from the other side of the room.
Garrus couldn't decide which was worse: an onslaught of at least half a dozen adjutants in front of him and his squad, or another Cerberus bomb, waiting to blow them and the enemy to kingdom come, behind them.
He could hear Maelon shouting at them, "Go! Get the hell out of here! I'll try to distract them!" But these monstrosities were much larger and more hideous than he had anticipated.
As Tali sent out her defense drone and Javik's biotics flared to life, Garrus tapped his ear piece to hail the Normandy.
"Joker, I need an exit within the next eight minutes!" he barked to the Flight Lieutenant through the open commlink.
"Ah man, I was hoping to have a quick drink at Afterlife before we-"
"Now Joker! We got six adjutants and a bomb to contend with-" he growled, swinging up his rifle, and aiming down the sights.
Joker took a moment to reply, confusion and panic in his voice, "What the shit? Where the hell did a bomb come fr-"
Garrus was becoming increasingly impatient, "I said NOW! We're in the Gozu District, heading out of Mordin's old medical clinic!" He pulled the trigger and hit one adjutant square in the face, causing it to take a step back from impact, before it continued its advance.
"Damnit. They're not going down very easily!" Hannah yelled to whoever was listening, as she sent a bombardment of gunfire into another's chest. "We're going to have to try different tactics to at least get around them!"
Joker muttered something about being so damn serious and a stick up someone's ass before he continued, "Alright, I've got you on my sensors. It doesn't look like there's a docking area anywhere near your location. I could send Cortez in the shuttle…"
"No! No time for that!" Garrus surveyed his surroundings. Tali and Wrex had taken on one of the adjutants by themselves, showering it with shotgun rounds. It screamed, spraying them with acidic like spittle. Tali shrieked as some of it hit her environmental suit, seeping through the dense cloth. Wrex pushed her aside as she crumbled to the ground, charging the enemy with his head down. Pumping it with a barrage from his Claymore, he sent the adjutant barrel-rolling to the ground. In one swift movement, Wrex was on top of it, beating it with the stock of his gun. He didn't stop until the monster's head was crushed into a bloody pulp, and it was left, unmoving.
"You're going to have to blast a hole through to us!" Garrus said urgently.
"But how-"
Javik chucked one of his lift grenades at an adjutant when Liara threw a powerful Singularity at it. The creature was lifted off its feet and into the air, tumbling head over heels. The prothean sent out a Slam, just as it was high enough for a devastating drop to the street. Garrus heard the crunch and splintering of bones as it crashed into the concrete, motionless.
"Joker! I don't care what you use! Just get us the hell out of here!" Garrus yelled over the comm, switching out his Black Widow for Shepard's Geth Pulse rifle.
"Alright! Alright!" Joker snapped back. "Priming the Javelins. You guys better take cover. I can't promise an accurate strike… The weapons' systems are all out of whack."
"Find cover!" Garrus shouted to both squads. He could here Maelon back in the clinic, bellowing at the four adjutants to come his way. Pistol fire went off, and two of them turned in his direction, leaving Garrus and the others to contend with the two remaining creatures.
They found refuge behind a low, broken wall. Garrus and Javik hopped over the ruined mortar with ease. Hannah and Liara helped a limping Tychus, and Wrex half dragged a fallen Tali to the shelter of their barricade.
"Is she going to be ok?" Liara asked, spying Tali.
"Infection already, I think," growled Wrex, his omni-tool lighting up as he dispensed some of his medi-gel to the quarian.
The Admiral blind fired her rifle over top the collapsed wall, saying, "We need help!"
"I'm working on it!" Garrus retorted back. "Anytime now Joker!"
After a several very long moments of dead air, the flight lieutenant finally said, "Firing in three… two… one…"
Two torpedoes crashed into the side of the asteroid, with a resounding blast that reverberated and shook all of Omega.
"The asari queen isn't going to be pleased with that," stated Javik. Hannah rolled her eyes, "No shit."
"And I doubt she's gonna like it when it happens again in just a couple of minutes," Garrus said. "Everyone! Get to the Normandy!" The turian listened for the gunfire in the clinic. When he thought he finally pinpointed it, the gunfire ceased, and there was a blood curdling scream that followed. Liara winced at the sound of it.
Garrus sent a volley at the two adjutants when he heard the hiss of the airlock as it opened. He was so focused on the task at hand, Garrus didn't notice he had run low on heat sinks, and now his weapon was overheating. Realizing he was screwed should he decide to attempt a reload or engage in physical combat, Garrus slowly backed his way toward the Alliance ship.
The adjutants made a final bound at him, covering the distance between them in an instance. One made a swipe at him, swiping at him. It caught him with its claws on the upper arm, and he began to bleed. Before he could comprehend what was happening, he was hauled off his feet and lifted through the airlock by Javik, Wrex, and Vega who had come to assist them.
Nodding his thanks to them, Garrus sprung to his feet and charged past his comrades, and through the CIC to the cockpit.
Just as he was about to tell the pilot to head for the relay, the commlink flashed on the controls. Joker glanced up at the looming turian before tapping a button to open the line.
Aria's voice filtered through the speakers.
"What the fuck was that?" she seethed furiously.
"Umm… Let's just say, we've done a little... redecorating… You might want to get that looked at," Joker said casually.
"You what?!" the asari raged. Before Joker could further damage the delicate situation, Garrus spoke up, "We found adjutants in the Gozu District. We were under attack and had to blast our way out."
"I swear… If you ever-" Aria began, but Archangel interjected. "A Cerberus bomb is about to detonate any second, and should take out any remaining adjutants in that District, and perhaps more..."
"Archangel, I swear if I ever see you or any one of your friends, I will kill you where you stand. You have ruined-"
But before Aria could finish telling him what he had ruined, a massive explosion rocked the Normandy away from the asteroid, and severed the connection. The force was great enough to send Garrus tumbling to his knees and to capsize Joker from his seat. The lights onboard the ship faltered briefly before returning to full power.
"Thank the spirits, that the shields are still in working condition," Garrus muttered, pulling Joker back into his chair.
"Son of a bitch. I think I broke my hip… and my elbow," the pilot mumbled.
"Just get us the hell out of here," Garrus said miserably.
"Where to?"
"Illium… We need supplies…" he said, turning away from the cockpit.
Upon returning to the CIC, he spotted Liara and Wrex taking an unconscious Tali to the elevator, with Tychus limping and bringing up the rear.
Admiral Shepard stood next to Garrus, her arms folded in front of her.
"I just spoke with Miranda. She thinks she might have a lead," said Hannah, eyeing the turian's injured and bleeding arm. "You might want to get that cleaned up… And for God's sake, Garrus, get some sleep. You look like shit."
He sighed, "I'm fine…"
He took off towards the closed elevator. Clutching Shepard's omni-tool tightly in his hand, he added quietly, echoing what Shepard once said to him, "I'll sleep when I'm dead."
Updated 6/7/14