It had been one of his better days aboard the Normandy, but it wasn't over. He hoped it would last.
Crow took his meal in the med bay as usual, though he briefly considered joining the others for once. Grunt was surprisingly less intense than their previous, brief interactions had suggested, and he'd been fairly reliable in the drill. Thane's plan had made him somewhat anxious; he used to let Glint roam some, back before Spider, but since the bomb neither had let the other out of their sight. The drell's plan had worked though, and nothing bad had happened.
He doubted anyone would fall for it in the next drill; they would probably expect it. But it felt good, watching his Ghost catch everybody off guard, and it felt good seeing him happy. It had gone much better than he'd expected, and though he still had his doubts, being able to fall in with the rest of the crew in later drills seemed a bit less insurmountable.
"But really, how are we going to get you onto the Citadel?" Glint mused aloud as his Lightbearer ate, 'pacing' in lazy loops around the med bay, good mood still running on high. "I guess if you kept your hood up, people would think you're an asari at a distance."
"Asari have boobs." he pointed out patiently between bites.
"... At a very far distance." Crow snorted lightly as his Ghost continued. "If the glowing eyes don't give you away. I suppose I wouldn't be able to come out at all, given how many people still mistake me for AI on the Normandy alone."
"We'll figure it out. We usually do." he pointed out. "I'm not sure what I would do with money anyway, not in this reality."
"Like you said, we'll figure it out." Glint paused in his loops to bump against his shoulder. "But seriously, today was great!"
Lo and behold, as if his Ghost had summoned them, a glob of mashed potatoes hit the observation window with a gory splat. Crow jumped, nearly spilling his own food, and Glint dashed into his jacket pocket with a startled squeak. Peering past the new decoration, he saw Commander Shepard, clearly furious, biotics flaring, still in her armor and right hand covered in potato. She was clearly yelling, but med bay was designed to cancel noise from the mess, and he was no good at lip reading.
The subject of her ire? The turian who must have ducked to avoid the potatoes. His back was to the window, but he seemed to be yelling, too, if Crow was reading his body language even remotely right. Oh, no...
The tension between Shepard and Garrus had finally snapped.
"Um... Should we... do something?" he asked his Ghost tentatively.
"I guess we could see what's going on... but don't get involved. At the very least, we need to know what's going on." Glint suggested. Crow nodded. Good day's over, I guess. He set his food tray down, pulled the void around him, and left the med bay.
"-always about the mission! 'Mission, this, mission that', we're not robots Commander!" Garrus was snarling. The rest of the people in the mess seemed to be frozen. Some-namely those seated at the table between the quarreling soldiers, were eyeing their Commander warily or literally keeping their heads down in case more spud flew. Joker, who was about midway to his usual spot with Donnely, was one again doing his best impression of a potoo. Other who had been standing or walking had also frozen, or were otherwise edging their ways out of the mess.
The rest of them were stuck; the situation was too awkward to leave, and too tense to stay. Despite his nervous curiosity, Crow felt like an intruder to the situation.
"You think I don't know that?" Shepard snapped. "Kind of hard to forget when you're pissed off at me all the time!"
Crow ducked his hand into his pocket and gripped Glint lightly so he didn't do his 'language' thing. His Ghost let out a light, irritated buzzing sound that thankfully no-one else heard.
"Oh gee, I wonder why that might be!" the turian jeered.
"Sure as hell I do, you won't even talk to me!" Shepard countered.
"I shouldn't have to say it! I asked for your help, I asked you not to interfere, and you did. I told you I'd handle the consequences, that your approval wasn't necessary, and what do you do? You mess it all up!" Crow winced; his Light was complaining. He tried to calm his heart rate; the key to the void was fearlessness. He couldn't afford to be afraid right now.
"I stopped you from doing something you couldn't take back, you weren't yourself." Shepard insisted. "The Garrus I knew-"
"The Garrus you knew came from two years ago. It's been two years-"
"I KNOW!" Shepard screeched. Crow stiffened involuntarily, heart jumping into his throat, and the void dropped from around him. Glint phased. Luckily everyone was too fixated on Shepard and Garrus to notice him; the most he could do was, like Joker, make like a potoo and hope everyone overlooked him. "Everywhere I go, 'It's been two years'! Are we prepared for the Reapers? It's been two years and nothing with a side of defamation. It's been two years and they didn't even bother gathering the crew's dog tags, it's been two years and we're all using thermal clips, it's been two years and I'm running around with 'made in Cerberus' carved on my ass while people I loved accuse me of treason, don't you fucking talk to me about 'it's been two years'!"
What followed was only silence, punctuated only by breathing, and the sound of the elevator doors opening. He held out hope it was Thane, if any room needed a level head more than ever, it was this one. It was Tali; she strode stiffly into the mess, but the two combatants were too busy glaring each other down to notice her. Tali was neutral towards him at best, icy at least, but he was never so happy to see her. If anyone could pitch themselves into this and put an end to it, it was her; she was friends with both of them, maybe she could get them to get along again.
"I need to leave." She announced, voice thick with something Crow couldn't identify. Both heads snapped in her direction.
"What?" they both said in unison. Not the kind of uniting factor I was hoping for...
"I've been accused of treason by the fleet, I need you let me off at the next port." That... tone must be what betrayal sounded like. He'd felt it before, but he had never heard it out loud like this. He swallowed hard, throat tight.
"Who the hell would think that!" Joker shouted, tone bordering on what might sound like petulance, unfreezing quite suddenly and being very loud about it. His face had gone beat red, and the hat seemed to make his scowl look even angrier. "Fuck the ports, we're driving you!"
"Joker, last I checked you don't give the orders. Tali do you want us to drive-"
"We're driving her." Joker insisted. Tali shuffled awkwardly and Shepard glared at him while Garrus glared at her.
"Joker-"
"You told me," the Pilot suddenly drew himself up, looking more serious than Crow had seen him, fixing a glare on Shepard, "when we first started this, and I quote, 'if I go bat-shit, Joker, you're in charge until I'm not bat-shit.' Commander Shepard, right now, you're one-hundred percent bat-shit. Both of you are!"
"I am not bat-shit!" turian and human both exclaimed.
"Oh, look, you agreed on something." in realization of this both sapients cast a look of disgust at the other. Joker pointed. "See, see! That's what I'm talking about. Two year, ten years, whatever, I shouldn't be the voice of reason here. I hate being reasonable."
"Joker's right, what is wrong with you two?" Tali put in her two cents, irritation mixing with her melancholy. "EDI said you've been going at this for ten minutes straight! We went through hell together, we got crushed by Reaper debris together, we survived the Normandy's destruction together, none of us should be fighting like this!"
"I. Didn't. Survive." Shepard grit out through clenched teeth. "As everyone is so keen to remind me, it's been two years."
"Oh, very smooth, go with the 'I died' line again; doesn't exactly work now that you're not the only one." Garrus snapped harshly, and, to Crow's horror, waving a hand in his direction. The entire room casts glances at him, and the fear is so great, he's able yank the void back around out of sheer desperation for the safety of invisibility.
"Leave him out of it, it's not remotely the same." Shepard shot back, before finally breaking off. "Do whatever the hell you want, Joker; you have the ship."
Crow didn't dare to breath until after she had passed him. Garrus glared at her back the whole time, and once she was gone, and he tried to approach Tali, the quarian snapped at him, sounding on the verge of tears.
"You're no better! Keelah, if you both would just talk without you're heads up your asses!" she made to stride away, leaving the turian looking dumbfounded, and maybe a little lost. Joker made to follow her, but her pace was brisk, and Crow made a stupid decision as she passed him. Gently, he tugs her shoulder, just enough to slow her.
For a moment, he braces himself to be hit, but he's done what he meant to, and Joker catches her by the corresponding wrist before she can even begin to reaction to the invisible hand. Crow scrambles back into the med bay as quietly as he can.
"Hey..." he hears the pilot begin before the doors close. Crow hits the button that turns the observation window opaque, and let the void go. His legs feel like jelly, and Glint materializes to nudge his shoulder supportingly.
"Just breath, it's fine." he encourages. Deep breath in, deep breath out. He does this for a while. Glint is incredible fidgety as he does so, and eventually, he looks up at his Ghost with a shaky smile.
"If you need to say it, just say it." he tells him. Glint seems to let out a huff, gather himself- and then the med bay doors open quite suddenly.
"LANGUAGE!" his Ghost yells at top volume, within the room that was supposed to cancel noise, said function being nullified by the now open door, in which Joker and Tali now stood.
"Uh, did you just curse?" the bearded man askes Crow with poorly hidden mischief written all over his face.
"I was venting a frustration." Glint informs him cheerily, hovering close to his Lightbearer. "There was a lot of colorful terminology out there just now!"
"Where's Chakwas" Tali asks stiffly. The sense that she might cry was still there.
"I think she's settling Massani in, in his quarters. He didn't like the med bay. Said something about asari and exploding face spiders, wouldn't let her treat him here." Crow told her, keeping his gaze low.
"Tell her I'm in the clean room." He only nods in confirmation, and she strides over the the decontamination chamber, stopping only when Joker chides her.
"Tals; give it up." his voice is almost sing-song. "You know I'll hack it off you if you don't."
"It's not a good idea, not after what just happened out there." she shakes her head.
"Well, I'm not leaving you to get hung out to dry by yourself. Give me the coordinates, I am driving you." Crow feels awkward again, playing witness to a relationship he doesn't know the inner workings of.
"You couldn't hack my tool if you tried." the engineer snorts.
"Yes, but I can try, and how many can say that, hmm?" the pilot brushes imaginary dust off his shoulders.
"Confident bosh-tet, aren't you?" she sounds almost amused, and less like she'll cry.
"You know that's why you love me." he activates his omni-tool with a flourish, and hovers one hand over it. "Now gimme."
Crow can't be sure, but it looks like she rolls her eyes at him as she activate her own omni-tool, and presumably sends him the coordinates he'd asked for.
"Try to get some sleep, I'll chart a course." Joker tells her. She nods, and Crow lowers his gaze even more when she seems to shoot a parting scowl his way before entering the clean room.
"You good?" He looks up at the pilot, confused.
"I had no part in all that." He points out. Why would he ask? Not to mention, Crow was used to playing the part of observer in the happenings of others. It never felt less awkward, and the fear of being noticed was always there, but on the Shore keeping his head down usually did the trick in such situations. Very rarely did anyone point him out, as Garrus, let alone ask after him when all was said and done. If he overheard an exchange, there was always an unspoken threat to keep his trap shut about it afterwards.
"Just checking." Joker says, adjusting his hat slightly. "Gotta talk to you later, by the way. I'd make Chakwas do it, but I'm being punished for procrastinating."
"Doesn't pushing the conversation to a later date count as procrastinating more?" Glint pointed out. The bearded man shrugged, before turning to leave.
"You know it!" He confirmed nonchalantly as he left. The doors shut, and the Ghost and Hunter were alone again. For a few beats of silence, Crow fiddled with his omni-tool.
"It's a lot harder to go unnoticed here. A lot louder when there's drama, too." Glint stated. He nodded in agreement.
"I hope they make up." He spared a glance at his food, but his appetite had left him.
I always felt there should have been a bit more drama in the aftermaths of Garrus and Tali's loyalty missions. There wasn't because video games, but this isn't a video game. One of my favorite moments from ME3 is where Joker admits he was asked to take care of Shepard, and I want to lead into that a bit more. They can be very similar characters in certain situations, and given that, as a pilot, his first priority in a hazardous situation work be the safety of his ship and the souls aboard it, I can easily see Shepard telling him to take over if she starts acting unstable, at least when the SR2 first launches. I always see Garrus as taking over the XO role, even if it's officially supposed to be Miranda in the situation, and at this point, Miranda still loves Cerberus and Shep is still a bit wary of trusting her(always felt that JUST the loyalty mission shouldn't have been enough to turn her), and Chakwas' priority is the med bay.
Therefore, Joker has taken over the Normandy. Let's see if everyone survives.
MystiYew: give it another go around. The trick is to leave certain tears until last, at strategic points, in case you wake the Guardians.
edbou4926: :)
Cc15: laptops are expensive these days, and there have been some bad reviews of the one that would be considered 'the next in line' from mine.
Guest: I wasn't really thinking of Patience and Time when I wrote that, I was thinking; activating invisibility by evasion is okay, but it would make sense for Crow to kind of do it instinctively when he's nervous or desperate not to be seen. For him, the void is a place of safety where nothing can see him, and he can strike first if he needs to. He's kind of adapted to cloak at will, in a sense, but the fear that led him to learning how is also kind of holding him back from using the bow of the blades. I kind of want to explore the whole Nightstalker process, and a character that's been through things like Crow has offers a unique take on it. It's implied that fear of the void itself is what holds most back, but maybe there are other, sometimes subconscious fears that can hold a Hunter back? Gonna be exploring that, and what it really means to be a Hunter in the ME verse, at some point.
Guest: nah bro Hunter master race. NFL, I find it interesting that the other classes have different 'cultures' running in them, and I'm just a sucker for Hunter culture.
You all let me know if the characters sounded like themselves in this one. For some reason Joker's lines feel more like they belong to Cayde, and I'm not really sure I captured 'angry angst Garrus' well enough.
Fare Thee Well!