Once upon a time
I swore I had a heart
Long before the world I know
Tore it all apart…

- FFDP, Battleborn

Over the course of the next three days, Garrus found himself alone in Shepard's cabin, as retrofitting crew worked around the clock. He thought it best for everyone involved if he isolated himself from the rest of the crew after the events that had transpired in Liara's office, at least for the time being. If Shepard had been there, it would not have happened at all. Hell… if Shepard were with them, they wouldn't be in this mess to begin with.

Garrus knew his emotions were compromised but he'd be damned if he'd let it happen again. Somehow… some way, he needed to work this out if he wanted to acquire some bit of competency back. He also needed to gain favor with the others as well.

By the end of first day, and into the second, Garrus found himself pacing the room over and over, angry and frustrated, fuming about his behavior. It wasn't until the middle of the third day, did he finally decide to do something about it. Finally, after he had resolved he had enough of his own pity party, he broke down and messaged Vega. He asked the Marine if he would spar with him, and good old Vega had obliged, meeting Garrus in the cargo hold not 15 minutes later. When questioned as to why he was still on speaking terms with Garrus, Jimmy shrugged and said, "I wasn't there, Scars, but I can dig what you're going through."

They tossed friendly punches and jabs for the next hour before both of them shed their shirts, tossing them to the side. Vega relaxed his arms to his sides, arched an eyebrow, and said curiously, "I've never seen a turian without their armor before…"

"You need to find yourself a woman Vega," Garrus snickered.

"I'm being serious though. You're… bony… and flaco…," Jimmy said frowning.

"Flaco? My translator didn't pick that one up,"

"Sorry… skinny… It kinda makes me wonder how turians have the best damn military in the galaxy,"

"Please… You really think I'm going to tell a lowly Marine all about the turian military?" Garrus scoffed. "Nope, besides… I could kick your ass from here to eternity with my eyes closed."

"Oh, is that a challenge?" Vega jibed back, a smile returning. Garrus' mandibles flared into a grin as well, "I suppose it is, loser buys drinks when we return to Sol with Shepard."

"Deal!" agreed the Marine, readying his fists.

Unsurprisingly to Garrus and much to Vega's disappointment, Garrus won their little bet and would eagerly look forward to a drink he didn't have to pay for.

Upon returning to the cabin, Garrus undressed himself and made a beeline for the shower. He stood under the steady stream of the shower head, allowing the hot water to seep into the softer portions of his skin and roll off the metallic plates. He made a mental note to keep the physical training up because he could feel how out of shape he really was.

Stepping from the shower and out of the bathroom, Garrus finally felt a calmness wash over him, as he toweled himself dry. Pulling a pair of lounge pants over his spurs, and returning his visor to its normal place on his head, he plopped down in front of Shepard's terminal, and powered it on.

Her desktop screen was a disaster, littered with mission reports dating all the way back from when she left Earth when the Reapers attacked, and ending with one labeled "Cronos Station". In the very bottom right hand corner, however, there was a folder that caught his eye almost immediately. It was marked "Vakarian"

Garrus opened the file, his heart feeling as if it would lurch from his chest at any given moment. Thoughts ran through his head like frenzied skycars as he wrung his hands together in anticipation for the file to load. When it did, he gazed at it, with a stark realization that it was a vid of Shepard.

She was dressed in full armor, clanking together as she shifted in her chair… The same chair he was sitting in now. Her red hair was tousled and her face was covered in dirt and grime with a dark bruise already forming under her eye. She leaned back in her chair with a weary sigh as she began to speak into the vid, sounding tired and exhausted but with something that hinted at slight relief echoing through her voice.

"It's 0400 Alliance Standard Time, and we just shut down Cronos Station successfully. Alliance thought it wise to disable it and come back to retrieve the data when this is all over, though… if it were up to me, I would have blown it sky high… Nothing good could ever come of Cerberus. But a win's a win, I suppose," Shepard stood and paced back and forth, seemingly thinking of something to say into the camera. Her N7 armor was dented and pinged and scratched, there was a splotch of blood on her back that Garrus didn't think was hers. She paced around a few more times before coming back toward the screen and placing both her hands on the desk.

"We're on our way to Earth. It's going to be several hours before we actually reach the Sol System and rendezvous with Hackett and the Crucible… Beyond that… all I see is a bunch of damned Reapers, a whole lot of fighting and even more death… And I don't like it… Never liked going into a mission where I wasn't sure of outcome," she laughed spitefully, rolling her eyes. "Looking at it that way, you would think I was talking about my whole damn military career."

A shadow of regret crept across Shepard's face. Her smile turning downwards as she continued, "Cerberus should never have brought me back… I should have been left to rot on Alchera with the rest of the SR-1 crew… Shit like that isn't natural…" She paused for a moment, head sinking between her shoulders, obviously deep in thought. "Through all this bullshit though, I have learned who I can trust… So, I guess one good thing has come from this..."

Shepard slunk back into her chair and looked back up at the camera, her features softening as she spoke. A genuine smile, a twinkle in her eyes, even her cheeks turned the slightest shade of red. "Garrus… my dear, sweet Garrus… If you're watching this, then something has happened to me… I may have been killed in action… perhaps I'm in a coma… or the Reapers have finally gained control of me… If that's the case, if I am comprised, then I want you to do me a favor and put a bullet through my head because there's no waking up from something like that…

"But whatever has happened… I want you to know… I need you to know…" Tears leaked from her azure eyes, rolling down her cheeks in a steady stream. "You have been the only one who has never doubted me… never turned their back on me. You have been with me from the very beginning… you were my best friend aboard the first Normandy… and after I came back wearing Cerberus colors, you never once questioned my motives… It's always been Shepard and Vakarian, through thick and through thin…

"Stay strong, Garrus… There are too few people out there in this mad galaxy with your sort of integrity and honesty… Don't ever falter from that, even if I am gone… Palaven is going to need a leader, and the Normandy is going to need someone to look up to… I know you're that person, Garrus…

"I once told Liara that I never thought I would find happiness in the arms of a turian… but to be honest, I don't think I could be happy with anyone else… Ugh… and to be plain and simple… because I sound like a gushing schoolgirl... I love you Garrus… no matter what happens, I will love you, forever and for always…"

And with that, Shepard kissed her gloved fingers and placed them to the screen, before switching off the camera.

As the vid ended, Garrus was suddenly aware that he had also placed his hand on the monitor, inadvertently attempting to reach out to Shepard through time and space. He removed his hand and hung his head, whispering to himself, and to the spirits that may or may not have heard him, "Shepard, hang on… We're... I'm coming..."

Several moments later, Garrus was jolted from his thoughts, the Normandy shuddered around him, and the lights flickered and went dead. He attempted to hail Joker on the intercom but that was out as well. Tapping his earpiece, he said, "Joker, what the hell was that?"

An exasperated and panicked voice replied, "I have no clue! The power just took a shit…"

"Was it something the retrofitting crew did?" Garrus said striding to the cabin door. The lock was red; he would be stuck here for the time being until whatever happened was fixed.

"I don't think so because they just ran out of here in a frenzy, yelling and screaming about something unnatural. They're currently huddled by the airlock, waiting for the power to come back on so they can hightail it out of here," Joker said.

The ship groaned again as the lights blinked back on.

"I'm coming down," Garrus said, opening the lock, then the elevator door. Before he knew it, the elevator reached the CIC.

Striding past the galaxy map and into the cockpit, Garrus gazed over Joker's shoulder at the readings he had pulled up on his dash.

"The systems have all returned to normal… But something isn't right… Wait," Joker flicked through a number of holos. "This is strange… According to this, the Normandy's running at optimal capacity…"

Garrus scratched his mandible questioningly, "And that means?"

Joker leaned on his arm chair, ruffling the hair beneath his cap, "She's running even better than she did after the Alliance retrofitting on Earth… Hell… she might even be better than when Cerberus rebuilt her…"

"How is that possible?"

Joker shook his head, "I have no fucking idea, but it says here-" He was cut short by a small holographic blue sphere appearing on the terminal to their left.

A very familiar voice jolted both of them, leaving their mouths slack and eyes wide in disbelief, "I have upgraded the Normandy's cyberwarfare suite, tested her firing algorithms and rerouted power for optimal use."

"EDI?!" said Garrus and Joker together.

"I have also took the liberty of speeding through Ms. Goto's stolen files, and have found the location of the Cerberus base you are searching for."

"EDI?!" they repeated.

"Hello Garrus," she replied, laughter in her voice, "Hello Jeff."

Joker was nearly bouncing out of his seat with excitement. It was by some damn miracle that EDI had returned to them unharmed and able to remember who they were.

"So wait…," Garrus interrupted. "What does this mean exactly?"

EDI giggled again, and her orb seemingly winking at him, "I know where Shepard is being held!"

Updated 6/7/14