Work Text:
“You don’t need to protect me all the time, Garrus.”
Garrus let out a long and heavy sigh. This argument again. He looked up from the rifle he was cleaning to look at Shepard. Her nose was wrinkled, her mouth pointed sharply down into a frown, her slanted eyebrows slanted over her green eyes. Her eyes were wide, her freckles disappearing under her flush of anger, and her arms were crossed tightly over her chest. Her scars appeared to glow brighter too, but Garrus hoped that was only his imagination.
Spirits, she was really angry this time.
"I'm pretty sure I should stop you from dying as much as possible. Once should be enough for everyone."
"Funny, coming from a guy that almost died from being stupid today."
Shepard crossed over to Garrus. She stood above him, glaring down at him, her hands now resting on her hips. He stood from his chair, hoping that his height would lessen the intimidation of her glare. It didn't, but Garrus was hoping that she didn't notice how nervous he was, or the slight wince he made when his wound protested to moving.
"Please, Shepard, can we not have this argument? I'm tired and I should really calibrate-"
"No. You always get out of discussing this, and I absolutely refuse to let you walk away. Not. This. Time."
Garrus sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, breaking eye contact. He walked to his work bench and leaned against it, putting most of his weight on his right hand.
He looked back at Shepard and said, "I don't know what you want me to say Shepard."
She scoffed and spun on her heel to stare wide eyes at Garrus. She spread her arms out and raised her shoulders. "Oh, I don't know, 'sorry for almost getting my arm cut off because I underestimate your ability to take care of yourself'?"
"Shepard, I have never, nor will I ever, underestimate you, your life was in danger so I saved your life."
"You put yourself between me and the blade! You could have kicked me out of the way or shoved me, but you stepped in the fucking way of the blade, Garrus."
Shepard moved closer and closer during her small rant and she and Garrus were now nose to nose in each other's face.
They stared at each other for minutes before Shepard whispered, "Why."
She was met with silence. Then, even quieter, her voice barely a whisper, "Why would you do something so stupid."
Garrus closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, in for five seconds, out for nine seconds. He needed to calm down. He needed a clear head.
"I don't want you to die," he murmured back, his voice vibrating and twanging with barely choked back emotion. "I could barely handle it once. I don't think I can survive you dying again. I know I won't be able to handle it a second time."
He opened his eyes and stared into her vibrant green eyes. Her face softened considerably, the harsh wrinkles of anger smoothed back in the change from anger to understanding. Shepard reached up with her left hand and rested it gently against his mangled face. She stroked his damaged plates softly, reverent in every sense of the word, as she leaned forward and wrested her forehead against his. Garrus focused back on his breathing, using all of his concentration to keep himself from shaking or crying. He remembered the pain he felt when he first heard the news of her death. He locked himself in his quarters, screaming and sobbing and drinking and forcing himself to swallow back all of his anguish in public. Turning his emotions on and off like that every day drained everything out of him back then.
If he didn't turn that pain and regret into passion to help the oppressed of Omega, he wouldn't be around today.
"I almost lost you once, too, Garrus," she murmured back. "Seeing you lying on the ground, barely breathing, surrounded in so much blood. I had just gotten back to you, and you were being taken away from me again."
She moved back, using her hand to lift his head up to meet her gaze.
"I don't want to lose you again, either. I can't lose you again. So please, Garrus, please don't sacrifice yourself just to try to protect me."
She smiled a weak smile, tears at the corners of her eyes. She kissed his mandibles and his mouth and rested her forehead against his again.
"There is no Shepard without Vakarian."