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"here,” she says, tossing him her dog tags. it defeats the purpose of human dog tags, and garrus knows that, but he doesn’t say anything. avery shepherd is a solider, and a damn good one. she can handle one battle without her tags, even if this is the last assault on earth. he puts them around his neck, grabbing his helmet and readying for battle.
“here,” he says, pulling her close and resting his forehead on hers. it's a minute of peace before another charge, and avery is greatful. he's helped her keep sane during this war, and to lose him now would be too much. a quick kiss before she speaks to hackett, that's all they get. the chance to lose him is all too real, all too sharp. she’s gone through hell for the universe, but the universe is a heavy burden. she does it for garrus and her friends, her crew and her mother. the universe needs her, but they need her more.
"here," she says, tossing him his sniper rifle. it's the top of the line m-98 widow model she bought him after she found him on menae, and he hasn't let it go since. garrus had lost his home, and he hadn't heard from family - but he had the normandy, had shepard. his commander, his girlfriend, the woman he trusts when his back is turned. the woman he loves. and now he's going to lose her, too. standing in the wreckage of harbringer's beam, she tells him she loves him and liara has to hold garrus back. he's going to lose her, he's going to lose her.
"here," he says, slipping her dog tags over her head in the hospital. she was in new york, that was what the small army of doctors had told her, but since the crucible everything had seemed off. avery had died, once. this wasn't that. the war was over, she had saved the universe, but countless had died. countless who had depended on her had died. there was much to put back together after such a war, but it was something else. something was wrong, and her body was beaten and broken, but garrus was here. she took his hand and he rested his forehead on hers, and she never thought the turian could hold her hand this hard. avery feared they'd lose each other to the reapers, but they were here.