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That gait. He knew it too well. He had watched it day-in day-out when they were fighting the geth but… It couldn’t be, could it? Garrus focused his scope on the figure in Cerberus armour.
Human, definitely. Shepard, maybe.
His heart quickened. No, this was insane. Shepard was dead. He attended her funeral, saw the empty grave, tried to move past his grief. He’d fled the Citadel because the Council refused the listen to reason and Shepard was no longer there to try and convince them. There had been nothing left for him with Shepard gone.
Two years.
Yet, that gait... The way the figure manoeuvred themselves in and out of cover with a fluidity that was almost dance-like.
Heh. Garrus laughed at that as he pictured Shepard’s awkward shuffle. Yet on the battlefield, her movements were always perfect timed, precise, almost beautiful. A bullet narrowly missed him, embedding itself into the pillar beside him and reminding him that he was in mortal danger.
The figure continued to fight their way across the bridge.
Well, at least she wasn’t shooting him. Wait, did he just say she, Spirits, it might not even be her… Why on earth would Shepard be on Omega?
Garrus sniped a merc to the figure’s left and noticed the white helmet glance upwards towards him, before pointing their shotgun at a batarian merc and pulling the trigger at point-blank range with a resounding bang.
Then the figure ducked back into cover.
Garrus’ subvocals hummed as he shot a couple of mercs running across the bridge. The Cerberus party pushed forward with a precision he recognised. Curiously, Garrus loaded a concussive round and hit the Cerberus clad soldier with it. Their shield shimmered briefly then she… they… biotic charged. From the shocked screams emanating from below him, Garrus gathered that the Cerberus squad were clearing out the room below.
There was a definite a lull in mercs from across the bridge. Good. That was a good sign.
He took the opportunity to reload and still his rising nerves.
Three pairs of footsteps entered the room, three loaded guns trained on his back but he knew they wouldn’t shoot. If they’d wanted to, he would be dead already.
Instead, he sniped a lone merc before turning towards the squad.
He would have recognised those eyes anywhere. Fierce blue, burning with a determination that he knew all too well.
‘Archangel?’ She – yes, she was a she – inquired, her tone half-questioning, half-warning. A tone that said I’m here on friendly terms but don’t mess with me unless you want to regret it. She removed her own helmet as the others Garrus didn’t recognise lowered their weapons.
Commander Shepard, in the flesh. Red hair, hand resting on her weapon and those eyes scowling at him as though daring him to turn hostile. Unfamiliar scars decorated her cheeks and forehead and they made her scowl all the more sinister.
He reached up to unclip his helmet before tossing it to one side.
‘Shepard.’ He greeted with a pleased lilt to his voice he had been unable to hold back. He was so far beyond relief and admiration.
Shepard’s pupils dilated a fraction, her eyebrows raised and then, a smile. That rare smile Garrus had only ever seen once before when they had saved the Citadel from Sovereign. For a split second, they stared at each other in mutual amazement.
Eventually he found his voice again.
‘I thought you were dead. It’s – uh – good to see you.’ Sure, it was the understatement of the century. The only person in the universe he cared about had died and that was the first thing he could think of to say to her. Pathetic. But there it was, another smile on Shepard’s lips. He wondered how many times she’d heard someone say those very words.
Then Shepard opened her arms wide in a gesture of astonishment and joy. ‘Garrus!’ She shouted his name and it was his turn to smile, his mandibles flaring ever so slightly. For an insane moment, he thought she was going to rush forward to embrace him but instead her smile only widened. ‘What are you doing here?’
Shepard translation: I can’t believe it’s you. It’s been a while.
‘Just keeping my skills sharp. A little target practice.’ He replied confidently, unable to knock the stupid grin on his face. It seemed Shepard couldn’t either as her smile turned into an amused smirk. His eyes glanced at the two behind her who looked as shell-shocked as he felt. Both human – one, a woman with dark brown hair and a disapproving frown; two, an older man with heavy armour and scars to match.
‘You okay?’
What sort of question is that, Shepard? He almost said. Here he was battling three mercenary groups, on the end of his tether and his dead Commander charges in for the magnificent finale. Was he ok? He wasn’t sure how to answer that.
‘Been… better. But it sure is good to see a friendly face.’ Another understatement. But she didn’t need to know that.
They caught up quickly. She asked about Omega, the mercenaries, why he was here in the Terminus Systems. He maintained eye contact the entire time, as though breaking it would cause Shepard to disappear into whatever oblivion she crawled back out of.
‘Since when did you start calling yourself Archangel?’ She grinned and he noticed an amused smile from the dark-haired woman positioned behind Shepard.
‘It’s just a name the locals gave me. For all my good deeds. I don’t mind it, but please… it’s just Garrus to you.’ He replied with an awkward little chuckle.
‘Of course, Garrus.’
He knew that soon the mercs would be back. He desperately wanted to ask Shepard everything. Why was she with Cerberus? Never mind him, what had happenedto her? Her eyes reflected his questions back at him. He noticed her take a couple of steps towards him as she looked back at her squad mates.
‘Well, we got here. I don’t think getting out will be as easy.’
They seemed to be the King and Queen of Understatements today. She sent the two squad mates to search for supplies and closed in on him. Garrus was suddenly aware of how close she was. He was certain Shepard had ever been this close to him even in battle. Her eyes didn’t move from him and he wondered whether she also thought he would disappear if she looked away.
I’m not going anywhere, Shepard. Garrus thought but out loud he said: ‘Welcome to Omega.’ He said with a dry tone. ‘It’s good to have you back, Shepard.’
‘And you, Garrus. Archangel indeed.’
‘I didn’t think in a thousand years I would see you team up with Cerberus.’ Garrus joked gently and her expression darkened a touch.
‘It’s a long story. If we make it out of here, maybe we should trade. My stories, for yours.’ She said with a shake of her head and a grin.
‘Deal.’
Garrus saw movement across the bridge and groaned inwardly. Shepard saw it too and in unison they both stepped towards the window.
‘Hmm. Looks like they know their infiltration team failed.’ He muttered, counting the gathering team mentally through his scope. When he brought his gaze back from the crosshairs of his scope, she was watching him with those endless blue eyes.
Why did that look now make him feel nervous? It was never an emotion the Commander had managed to elicit from him before. He cleared his throat and handed the sniper rifle to Shepard. ‘Take a look. Scouts. Eclipse, I think.’
She pulled hair out of her eyes before looking down the scope with a frown.
‘We seem to be outnumbered.’ She said, her frown deepening further.
‘Just like old times, Shepard.’ He chuckled softly and noticing a smile tilt up the edges of her lips. He noticed her finger tighten on the trigger and then slacken. She handed the rifle back over. ‘I’ll stay here where I have the advantage and you… you can do what you do best.’
She swung on her heel then with a playful smile.
‘Alright, Garrus. Your sniping and my biotics and shotgun. Let’s see if we can beat our record time.’
‘I’m game.’ Garrus growled, bringing the scope up to his right eye. He heard her footsteps and orders to her squad mates. That was a pleasantly nostalgic sound.
A few heartbeats later and she was charging between mercs like a space hamster on caffeine. Shockwave. Charge. Pull. Charge. Bang, right in the face. One. Two. Three mercs, down in a matter of seconds. Garrus was so mesmerised watching her fight, still double-checking it was truly Shepard,, that he was only reminded to shoot when a stray bullet grazed his shields.
The mercs were dead and she was almost instantly by his side. Noises, from below. Damn. The mercs were breaching the lower levels.
‘Let’s split up.’ Shepard said instantly. So goddamned decisive. Good to see she hadn’t changed. ‘Two and two. Keep one of my team here.’
Garrus would much rather keep Shepard in his sight, what if she disappeared again? And this time not just for two years. He shook himself. You’re being ridiculous. This is Commander Shepard. She doesn’t need to be coddled.
‘You sure? Who knows what you’ll find down there.’ He asked cautiously, his subvocals humming out a worried tone.
She didn’t dignify his question with a response and turned to the dark-haired woman. ‘Miranda, stay with Garrus. Keep him alive.’
‘I can take care of myself, Shepard.’
She shot him an unconvinced look. ‘Says the turian holed up against three merc bands.’
She has a point. ‘Alright. Thanks, Shepard. You better get going.’
Shepard nodded at the older man. ‘Come on, Zaeed. We’re on our way. Don’t die on me now.’
‘Don’t you die on me.’ Garrus pointed out, half-jokingly and half-deadly serious.
After some quick directions she was gone, leaving Garrus and Cerberus’ Miranda to hold the fort.
‘So… you know Shepard?’ The woman’s smooth voice queried. Something in her tone made Garrus feel defensive but he wasn’t sure why. He focused his attention back on the bridge. And they there were, the mercs filing across the bridge as though someone had opened the gates of Hell.
He was on edge. Worried for Shepard and worried as bullets seemed to be zipping past him at more than regular intervals. Over the radio, he heard Shepard confirm the closure of the shutters, one by one, blocking off the entrances to the remaining mercenaries. The last shutter confirmation came through and Garrus heaved a sigh of relief. The bridge was clear, littered with the corpses of mercs and Miranda calmly wiped a little blood from her face.
In the distance, Garrus heard the tell-tale sounds of tampering and rushed to the other side of the room. His subvocals vibrated in a low growl. ‘Get back here, Shepard. They’re coming in through the doors.’
Garm, the krogan battlemaster leader of the Blood Pack. Garrus ducked back into cover as the krogan raged into the building, barking orders instantly to his crew. Garm was a tough son of a bitch. But Garrus had the upper hand.
He had Commander Shepard.
Garm was charging up the stairs as Garrus assessed the situation. He would need to hold Garm off long enough to give Shepard time to get back. Easier said than done, after all Garm was a krogan and a pissed-off one at that. He wished Wrex was here.
Garrus fished for his assault rifle and readied himself for the krogan.
‘I need help with this guy, Shepard.’ He spoke over the radio and then pointed Miranda towards secure cover.
No sooner had he said it than Garm was through the door. And almost a heartbeat later, so was Shepard, propelling herself into Garm. Without so much as a pause, she was pumping out shotgun ammo as fast as she could. Her biotic powers were relentless against Garm’s barrier. She then rushed behind cover, avoiding Garm’s less-than-graceful movements. Garrus aimed from his own cover. Shepard charged back out of cover and the krogan collapsed with a dull thump, a brief twitch and then nothing.
‘Never a dull moment with you, Garrus.’ Shepard called.
‘I could say the same for you, Shepard.’ Garrus laughed. Shepard reloaded, her breathing heavy and one of her new scars was bleeding. She marched over and was by his side again. He resisted the power urge to wipe away the blood on her face.
‘Only you could get yourself in this much trouble in two years.’
Again, I could say the same for you. Instead, he shook his head with a chuckle. He caught her gaze and notice her smile as though he could read her mind. Shepard had always had a way of knowing exactly what he was thinking. His heart thumped wildly in his chest. He sure hoped she didn’t know what he was thinking right now.
Her eyes snapped away from his.
‘Get down!’ She snapped and they ducked behind cover as a shower of bullets rained over them. Disorientated and exhausted, Garrus tried to grasp what was going on. There was a distinct whirr of a gun ship… hadn’t he already dealt with that? He noticed Shepard’s expression scowl as she changed her shotgun for a heavy pistol.
‘I’ll go down and take out the mercs, you stay and distract the gunship.’ She ordered and Garrus instantly obeyed. His legs moved automatically and he leapt for the cover over from his own. His head snapped around fast enough to see a biotic flash as Shepard charged out of the door with her squad in tow.
Garrus leapt out, firing a few rounds at the gun ship.
‘Archangel!’ Came Tarak’s bellow from the gun ship. ‘This ends now!’ He felt bullets shatter his shields and before he could move into cover, they pierced his armour. He collapsed to the ground and crawled over to the nearest shelter. ‘You think you can screw with the Blue Suns!’
Garrus checked himself over. Nothing fatal. He could hear the screams of terrified mercs below and Shepard’s determined shout, something he never thought he would hear again. Archangel, Garrus Vakarian, felt that today he could die happy. Die knowing that Commander Shepard was alive and he had been granted the opportunity to see her before…
An explosion. Head ringing. Eyes blurry. Face… Face hurting… Bleeding.
Garrus.
He just wanted to sleep but he could hear that voice at the edge of his consciousness. Then gun fire. The relaxing sound of gun fire eased his worries.
Garrus! Come on. Stay awake!
An order. An order from his Commanding Officer. He wanted to obey but he was so damn tired. A breath. He felt himself suck in a desperate gasp of air and heard a sigh of relief.
We’re getting you out of here, Garrus. Just hold on.
He could do that. For Shepard, he could do that. He needed to hear her story. How she had survived. He needed to fight by her again. He couldn’t do that as a corpse.
He felt an unfamiliar touch. Her hands pressing against his face. Soft human fingers tried to slow the bleeding. He forced his eyes open. She was staring back at him with her cool blue eyes. She was blurry now but still there. And not dead.
Her expression was something in between anger and terror. He hadn’t seen that expression since… No, he had never seen fear in Shepard’s eyes.
‘Radio Joker. Make sure they’re ready for us.’ Shepard ordered to Miranda without taking her eyes off his.
‘He’s not gonna make it.’ Came Zaeed’s distant voice somewhere behind Garrus’ head.
‘Stay with me, Garrus. You hear me?’
The edges of her word sounded soft as Garrus felt claws drag him into his unconsciousness. He tried to clasp onto her words but he could feel himself fading.
I won’t let you die. You aren’t leaving me alone with Cerberus, Garrus. Just like old times, remember? We can get through this. We always do, we always- Then her voice was gone and Garrus was drifting through darkness alone.