Chapter Eight: Long Way to Swim

Shepard was in his ear as he flanked around to the back of the clinic.

You got him, Garrus. You did it.

She'd say that every few sentences, the gratification more pleasing than anything his father could ever tell him. She made him feel so proud in what he did, that dealing with al the red tape was worth it. Because of those few little words.

You got him, Garrus. You did it.

And then there was the explosion.

He rolled out of the way, facing away from the blast as a crate hit the back of his armor. He'd be sore, but right now he was focused on the mission.

Garrus, are you okay? What happened? We lost contact with the group. Garrus? Garrus!

He groaned into the comm, slowly getting to his feet and grabbing his pistol from where it had slid away across the floor. Flames blared from the back of the clinic as alarms rang, water systems releasing a stream of water to douse the fire.

Garrus?

Her voice was so soft, like she was whispering right beside him. He hopped through a broken window, over a pile of burning papers, and checked around the area.

"I'm okay," he replied, and she let out a sigh of relief. "He's gone. Probably felt a trap for when we came for him."

He opened his comm to Velio. "V, I need you to release a station wide alert, close all docks. This guy isn't leaving."

'I don't know if I can do that Garrus,' Velio answered, and it caused the Turian to growl once he confirmed the place was empty. There were bars of organs and large freezer full as well, but the fire would destroy everything before he could get back up. He pulled his visor from a space pocket in his armor and hooked it over his eye, recording the area to the best he could.

This would be his only evidence.

"V, I'm sending you live feed of the clinic. Store it. We could use it in court."

There was an affirmitive in his ear before Shepard came through again.

Garrus, we've got security on the guy. He's heading toward the docks. They're trying to close off all paths but approval is taking too long.

"Damn red tape," he cursed, turning off his visor and putting it back in his armor.

"What do we know?" He asked as he walked into his office, the homebase for catching Dr. Saleon. They had eyes on him, but he had disappeared into a second office not minutes before. A second group was closing in on him, but who knew how long he would hold out in there.

"Two teams, one front and one flank. They've got the ward blocked off but who knows if he has an escape route."

"And the docks?"

"We've gotten the whole ward closed, but we can only hold ships for so long, Garrus."

He growled again, frustration seating itself in his belly. His mandibles twitched as he thought of an alternative. Shepard felt useless, and he could tell from her body posture. She couldn't help with the front lines and she could only do some much behind the scenes. Her mood was rolling over into him and it was taking a toll on them both.

"We've got movement!" Velio called from the screen of vid feeds, and the front door of the office opened.

Dr. Saleon walked out with a group surrounding him, all of them bleeding profusely.

"Holy fuck," Shepard breathed in disbelief.

Garrus tensed as he watched the doctor walk out slowly, pistols not wavering as they lined up a shot, but there was an innocent on each side. No opening.

No more innocents would die.

"Damnit!" Garrus shouted, slamming his fist down on the desk in frustration. He felt Shepard's hand on his shoulder, squeezing the joint to calm him. It took everything in him not to toss it off and go on a rampage. Don't take your anger out on her, Vakarian. She just wants to help.

He remembered that conversation vividly.

Why do you want to help so bad, Shepard? This isn't your job.

I like to help people, Vakarian. It's my thing. It's what I'm good at. I won't stop until the good Lord takes me home.

He found it odd for her to be the religious type, but her reply was that it was 'nice to have something to believe in that was bigger than everyone, bigger than yourself.' He supposed he could agree to that.

He rubbed at the tight spot on the back of his neck, trying to loosen himself up so he could think straight. However, his fingers were pushed aside by a smaller, softer hand and he felt the tips of her nails digging into his soft hide under his fringe.

For just a moment, the whole galaxy seemed to disappear and all he recognized as existing was the sensation of her skin on his and the scent of her washing over him. He took a deep breath, his whole body melting away. They had never been just skin on skin. Never.

And now he questioned why he waited so long.

"Garrus, calm down."

Calm. Calm down. Yes, he was calm. As long as she didn't take her hand off him.

"Just take a few breathes and think."

Think? He couldn't think right now, not with how amazing her nails felt digging into his skin. He could think about her, sure, how much he wanted to see just how 'firm with a little give' she was. Taste her soft skin on the back of his tongue.

"Better?" She asked, and he nodded. "Good. Now what do you want to do?"

He was the leader of this case, he chose what they did.

"Do you think you could pull out some of those Alliance skills and be my sniper?"

She looked surprised that he would ask that, that he would know that, but it eased into a grin. She chuckled and shook her head, her thoughts unreadable.

"I thought you'd never ask, big guy."

He nodded and straightened his back, looking to Velio. His officemate vibrated with disapproval, the subharmonics almost hurting him, but this was Garrus' case and he would finish it how he saw fit.

"Get your gear, commander. We have a criminal to catch."

He had the doctor in his sights, the spot between his eyes circled in the crosshair of his visor.

"There's no where else to go, Saleon!" He yelled, pistol raised and ready to shoot the second he got an opening. Shepard was in his ear again, across the dock with a crosshair trained on the doctor.

I don't have an opening, Garrus. Get him away from the ship.

There was a group coming up the flank, ready to grab at the hostages to get them out of the way and take him in. Garrus wasn't planning on giving him that luxury, not after everything he had done to those people.

The Salarian looked around for any opening, not wanting his back to Garrus or the team flanking him once he realized they were there. One of the people stumbled, more than likely weak from blood loss, and he heard the crack of a rifle before he saw it.

He stumbled, at first, eyes wide as he stared at the gaping wound in his shoulder.

Fuck! Damn duct rat came out of no where, scared the hell out of me.

But it was too late. The doctor was on the ship now, hand clasped over the wound. Garrus pulled the trigger, trying to get any hit on the criminal. He only hit the metal of the ship.

"Close all docks! Close all docks!" He yelled, rushing forward. The doors closed and he banged on them, frustration sitting on him again. The ship came to life, metal warming under his gloves. "Don't let him get out of the Citadel!"

The tower control operator came over the comm.

"Officer Vakarian, we're doing our best to keep him docked but he's overriding our codes."

"Shoot the damn ship down, then!"

"There are hostages on that ship, Vakarian."

"They're dead anyways! He'll just harvest them until there's nothing left!"

"We can't take the chance, Vakarian."

The ship pulled away from the boarding area, thrusters hot as they lifted the doctor and his victims out of sight.

He had gotten away.

"Garrus?"

He looked back at Shepard, just then realizing that he had been standing at the docking bay for quite some time, staring at the dark vastness of space. Her eyes were deeper, held more than the entire universe.

"I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault, Shepard."

"I had a shot, I shouldn't have gotten so surprised by that damn kid. I'm so sorry, Garrus. You must hate me."

He didn't answer her. Just walked away.