.
Loyalty and Limerence
Part 1
Chapter 3
The fire fight at Chora's Den, which eventually led to the discovery and rescue of the quarian Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, left Shepard's entire group with an atmosphere of urgency and apprehension, but also with the taste of victory. They had rushed off to present the data to the human ambassador, Donnell Udina, and though he in turn presented it to the council immediately following their meeting, it wasn't until the morning after that they were willing to hold a hearing.
While Garrus understood the need for rest and for the council to verify the authenticity of the data, he honestly spent a good amount of the remaining night laying in bed tossing and turning. He must have dozed off eventually, because his omni-tool buzzing with a message dragged him back to consciousness. An hour later, he was standing waiting for the commander as he spoke with the council once again. This time, however, he stood along with Shepard's team off to the side as they watched the proceedings. To the surprise of nearly everyone, the hearing took an interesting turn after a few minutes of debate.
"Commander Shepard, step forward." Tevos, the asari councilor, intoned, her voice carrying throughout the space. The entire room collectively sat forward, expectancy filling the air.
"Are they really going to go through with it?" Ashley asked in an incredulous whisper, causing the small group to look over at her.
"He is clearly the perfect candidate, why do you sound so amazed?" Garrus whispered back quickly, keeping his eyes on the events unfolding before them. It wasn't everyday you got to witness history in the making. Today, the Citadel would receive its first human Spectre.
"Yeah, Shepard told us about why Nihlus was shadowing him, we knew this was a possibility." Kaiden added soon after. Ashley glanced at them both in turn out of the corner of her eye, and after a moment she shrugged.
"I just figured that was a token gesture to keep us quiet. I didn't think they actually had any intention of promoting a human. They don't really seem to like us much." Garrus frowned at the attitude in her voice, and wondered idly if she was one of those "Earth First" types. He supposed he wouldn't be surprised, he'd run into plenty of that sort during his time on the Citadel so far. He'd had higher hopes for these humans he had been working alongside, but he supposed the Alliance must harbor plenty of soldiers with similar sentimentalities. Narrowing his eyes, Garrus opened his mouth to reply.
"Humanity hasn't been on the Citadel long, they don't have much reason to trust us yet." Jane's voice cut off the debate with decided surety, "But we'll show them that we deserve this. The Commander will show them. I can't think of anyone who deserves this more." The pride was evident in her voice, though her face was blank as she gazed up at the council giving their speech. Wrex grunted in what Garrus could only assume was agreement, and Tali nodded her head. The other two humans looked at Jane for a moment before returning their attention to the council as well.
Soon, the council was stepping down from their podiums and the three human men still on the dais were talking quietly amongst themselves. Jane headed straight for them without hesitation, everyone else following behind her.
"Anderson, come with me." Udina commanded as he turned to leave suddenly, "I'll need your help to set this all up." Without so much as acknowledging any of them, the man marched down the stairs and out of sight. Anderson offered Shepard one final handshake, before nodding his farewell to the team and leaving.
"Congratulations, Commander." Jane held out her own hand to her brother, who took it with a smile before placing his other hand on her shoulder, giving it a quick squeeze before the two parted. The others hurried forward to offer their congratulations as well, including Garrus and the other non-Alliance members.
"I expected your ambassador to be more grateful. He didn't even say thank you." Garrus added afterwards, walking next to Shepard as they followed the rest of the team down the stairs.
"What do you expect from politicians?" Jane scoffed from just ahead of them, and Garrus couldn't help but with them was one of his least favorite parts of his job at C-Sec, and part of the reason why he'd worked to get reassigned off the Presidium when he'd first started out.
"So what's your plan now? Where are you planning to go from here?" Garrus asked as they got down onto the landing, stopping just a little way away from the others standing in front of the public transit terminal. Was he just supposed to… Leave? Go back to work now? It seemed so anticlimactic, and he burned with envy that Shepard and his crew would be heading out to hunt down the rogue Spectre.
"Well, I'm supposed to meet with Udina and Anderson to go over the information the council is giving us pertaining to Saren, as well as the plans for getting me a ship and crew for the mission. Which is something I'd like to talk to you three about, actually." Shepard paused, glancing over at Wrex and Tali before turning back to look at him directly. "I was very impressed with your work yesterday during the investigation. I'm going to need a well rounded team for this mission, and I'm hoping I can convince you to join me." Garrus felt his mouth fall open slightly, his eyes widening slightly in surprise.
"I- That is…" Garrus stumbled over his words in his shock, trying not to get his hopes up as a million roadblocks seemed to spring up in his mind, "Wouldn't that be a bit irregular for an Alliance crew, having a turian on your team?" Shepard shrugged, a smile tugging his lips.
"I'm a Spectre now, I'm not sure what they think matters as much anymore. I'll have to check with Udina and Anderson of course, and I know I'm asking a lot of you to quit your job and run off with us. But I hope you will consider my offer, we could really use a man with your skills."
"It would be an honor to join your crew, Commander. Thank you very much for the opportunity." Garrus' subvocals trilled with his pleasure and excitement like a kid presented with candy, and the only thing keeping him from being completely embarrassed was that most humans couldn't understand them anyway. Shepard held out a hand to him and they shook again.
"Then, once again, welcome aboard Garrus. I'll need to check with Udina regarding the funding being allocated for our mission, but I should be able to ensure that you are compensated for your time. I don't want you to suffer from the loss of a good paying job at C-Sec." Garrus laughed, his excitement at the offer making everything seem lighter than it had in days.
"That is the last thing on my mind at the moment, but thank you. Are you going to be asking Wrex and Tali to join you as well?"
"Yeah, that's the plan. Anyway, I can't see the preparations taking less than 48 hours, what with the meetings and requisition orders that will need to happen before we can leave. Do you think you can be ready to ship out in that time?"
"Oh, definitely. C-Sec probably won't be happy with such a sudden resignation, but they will deal with it. It won't take me long to get packed."
"Good. I'll keep you posted as things develop and I'll let you know as soon as we have a ship. After that, once I get the paperwork through, you can come get settled onboard. I really want to ship out as soon as possible, Saren already has enough of a head start on us." Shepard's voice grew grim at that last, and Garrus felt his elation dwindle in the light of the task ahead of them. It was important to keep reality in mind. The mission was an incredibly dangerous one, and their prey was just as much a predator as they were, if not more. Shepard clapped him on the shoulder before starting off toward the rest of the team who were chatting quietly nearby.
"Glad you're joining us, Vakarian. Can always use another good shot." Garrus turned to see Jane standing not far off, clearly having overheard their conversation.
"Happy to be of service." He replied with a grin and they joined the others.
When he arrived at the docking bay Shepard directed him to the next day, he was amazed to see the sleek, new ship stationed there.
"The Normandy…" He mused as he read the name written in large letters plastered across its side. He'd heard some rumors about this new Alliance vessel since it's arrival here on the Citadel, but he hadn't expected it to be so small. Shrugging, he hefted his bag over his shoulder and made his way to the guard stationed by the airlock.
"Sir, this area is off limits to non Alliance personnel."
"Garrus Vakarian, I was told to meet Commander Shepard here."
"One moment, sir." The marine looked down at his omni-tool, swiping through what must be a list of names. "Ah, yes. There you are. Welcome aboard, sir." The marine stepped aside, letting him pass through to the airlock. It cycled the air, and he stepped forward onto the ship.
After a moment of wide eyed gawking, he forcibly shut his jaw with a click. If he didn't know better, he'd say he was standing aboard the most bizarre turian frigate he'd ever seen, except that it was an Alliance ship. He was almost positive this was not how they typically laid out their CICs, and yet here it was. Very turian, and yet not quite.
"- and once you've done that, please go through this rations requisitions list and double check the numbers for me. Pass it along to Pressly when that's finished, and he will submit it for approval. After that, I'll need you to- Ah! Garrus!" John Shepard glanced up from where he stood talking with his sister, passing her a stack of data pads and waving him over. "Welcome to the Normandy."
"Thank you, Commander. It's a beautiful ship. Very…" Garrus gestured vaguely at the central design of the command console and galaxy map, "...turian." He finished somewhat lamly, and Shepard nodded in agreement.
"It was a joint project between the turian Hierarchy and the Systems Alliance. Top of the line, nearly fresh off the press." Garrus' eyes lit with recognition, remembering a mention of the new stealth ship in the Eden Prime reports. "I can get you the specs later, but first let's get you settled in." Turning around, Shepard's eyes alighted upon his sister. "Jane, would you mind showing Garrus down to the crew deck? Then we can get him and the others a tour once Wrex gets here." Jane nodded slowly, but looked down at the data pads in her arms.
"Sure, but what would you like me to do with these?" She trailed off, holding them up.
"Ah, right. You know what, I can pass those directly off to Pressly, he can handle it. Sorry I'm throwing so much at you, you're not even technically my XO."
"It's okay, I don't mind. Happy to help." They shared a smile between them as Shepard took the data pads back. Jane gave Garrus a friendly, causal salute as her eyes turned back to him. Neither she nor her brother were in their combat gear now, and even though she had been wearing light armor, he was surprised to see how much smaller she looked. Both of them, really. Humans seemed so vulnerable, it was really amazing.
"Good to see you, Vakarian. Ready to see your bunk?" He hefted up his bag and nodded before following her to a door leading down to the lower deck. She led him to a somewhat cramped room, though perhaps it seemed less so for someone shorter, like most of the humans.
"This is the barracks. You'll be down here on the end. Is a bottom bunk okay? Shit, will you even fit? You're a pretty big guy." She looked him up and down, leaning back with a curious expression on her face that he couldn't identify. Bending down to look over the bed, he decided it would do.
"It'll be tight, but I think I'll fit." After a silent moment, she chuckled, raising an eyebrow. He replayed his words in his head before feeling his face grow hot. "Err, that is - I…" He floundered a bit before dropping his eyes to the ground, "You know what I meant." He expelled in a rush as she chuckled again. "Anyway, I don't suppose I have much of a choice?"
"Well, we're putting in a request for a krogan size cot. Not sure where we're going to put it, but we'll find space. Should we order a turian sized one, too?"
"No, no this should be fine."
"Okay. Well, you can unpack your clothing here," She kicked open one of the drawers under the bed, "and you can put some personal effects here." She pointed to a small shelf built into the wall at the end of the bed. "There's some space here for armor," She opened a cabinet between two of the bunks, "but you'll also have a locker down in the cargo bay for combat equipment and weapons."
"Perfect." Garrus dropped his bag on the bed and looked around. It was tight, but comfortable enough, for a military ship.
"All set?"
"I think so. I'm just going to get unpacked, if that's okay."
"Of course. Unless you need anything else, I'll head back upstairs. A million things to do, and no time to do them." She gestured with a thumb over her shoulder before turning to leave. "Come and find us when you're done. Make yourself at home, Big Guy!"
Big Guy? He groaned, wondering if the nickname was going to stick. Unpacking didn't take long, and just as he finished, the door whooshed open, revealing the quarian, Tali, as she stepped into the room.
"Oh! Garrus. Didn't realize you'd arrived. I was just checking out the bathrooms. This is a really amazing ship, I can't wait to see the drive core. Are you getting unpacked? This reminds me a bit of home, cramped quarters and not much personal space-" The younger quarian seemed to be babbling a little, wringing her hands slightly. Garrus figured she must be nervous, but hell, so was he, honestly. And as far as he knew, she hadn't served on a military ship before, let alone one belonging to a different species. "- glad that I'm not the only dextro species onboard, I feel a little less guilty about having special dietary requirements, you know?"
"Yeah, definitely." He took his chance to cut in, "Should we head back up to the upper deck? Let them know we're all set?" She nodded, hands still fiddling as they headed toward the door. He followed her toward the stairs to the CIC, and took a moment to marvel at the dramatic shift his life had taken in the last few days. He was aboard a Spectre's ship! He was going to be serving on a Spectre's team, no longer bound by C-Sec's red tape, no longer bound by their rules. He was on a critical, high risk mission, and he might actually be able to make a difference for once.
The door whooshed open, and they stepped out into the hustle and bustle of the CIC. Looking around, Garrus spotted Shepard and Jane, their heads together as they looked over a data pad together.
"- looks okay to me, so I'll send it along, if that's alright with you, Sir?" Jane held her hand out for the datapad the Commander was looking over.
"Yes, that seems to be in order. Double check the numbers on this order form, too, please." He handed both of the datapads back to her, and she nodded.
"Yes, Sir." She turned to leave, but he grabbed her shoulder, pulling her off to the side.
"Jane, you don't have to call me 'Sir' all the time, it's weird coming from you." Shepard's voice was quiet, gentler as he smiled down at her, but Jane shrugged her shoulders and she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear with her free hand. Garrus felt like perhaps he was eavesdropping a little, but stayed where he was, still unnoticed by the two humans. Tali, too, didn't move.
"Exactly what would you prefer I call you?"
"You know I'm not a stickler for protocol, especially now that I don't have to be. I prefer a more casual approach."
"What, do you want me to just call you 'Shepard' like everyone else? Sorry, John, but I've been serving in the Alliance nearly as long as you, and after a decade, I'm used to being 'Shepard'. Feels like I'm talking in the third person if I start calling you that." Now she was smiling, too, in that sly, amused way that Garrus was starting to associate with her.
"Okay, okay, point taken. What about-"
"I'm not going to call you John in front of others. That's just unprofessional, which I am not." She stated bluntly, her face deadpanning now, her eyebrow still raised in that provocative manner. He leveled her an equally raised eyebrow and she smiled again. "Okay, I'm not that unprofessional."
"That's not what I was going to suggest." Shepard put a hand on his hip, bringing up his other hand to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration with a sigh. "Okay, we'll figure this out eventually."
"Yes, Sir." Now she was outright grinning, and Garrus couldn't stop the chuckle that threatened to burst from his own chest at the exchange. He couldn't help but wonder if all human ships were like this, quite unlike the strict discipline found on turian military ships. He could get used to this.
There was something he liked - or perhaps envied - about humans. They had a lot of oddities which he'd been slowly starting to acquaint himself with since he'd started at C-Sec, but they all had a certain freedom about them, an unapologetic individuality. He could understand why humans rubbed his dad the wrong way, along with most of the old, traditionalists of that generation of turians.
He was nervous about being the only turian, and yet he was starting to feel like it wasn't going to be too hard to adapt. Upon noticing him and Tali nearby, the two Shepards turned to look at them, the taller one with a friendly and inviting smile, the shorter with inquisitive, amused eyes. Garrus was starting to think his time aboard the Normandy would be interesting and enlightening, indeed.