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“Geez, Garrus, did you have to wait until the last second to take care of this? We're gonna be late!” James Vega called out as he weaved through the crowded path to keep pace with the Turian.
“It's not my fault,” Garrus threw up a frustrated hand before veering to the left. “I'd planned to be ready two days ago, but apparently there was a delay. Believe me, they got an earful about it too.”
“Honestly I'm still surprised that Lola hasn't found out and ordered us to stop yet,” James chuckled. “How did you get this info anyway?”
“Well, there are some perks to having top-level clearance,” Garrus grinned playfully, mandibles parting enough to see the sharp teeth behind. “I'm more surprised she still lets you call her that silly nickname.”
“What? I think it fits her. Besides, it's one way I know that can get her to crack a smile. You know how hard that is these days.”
“Yes... yes I do,” the grin faded as he thought about just how difficult it was. And why.
The Reaper invasion and Earth continued to weigh heavily on Shepard. Add on the stress of almost single-handedly trying to bring the galaxy together in a united front and sometimes Garrus wondered how she was able to press on at all, much less find things to smile about.
But then he remembered who he was talking about. The woman who became the first human Spectre; took down Saren and Sovereign; died and came back; defeated the Collectors by destroying their home world; and saved his life more times than he could count. She also happened to be his girlfriend, which was the biggest mystery of all in his mind. His eyes softened as a gentler smile lit his face.
“Ooooo I know that look!” Vega gave him a friendly jab in the side. “You're thinking lovey-dovey thoughts about the Commander, aren't you?”
“I am doing no such thing,” he sputtered, quickly returning his mind to the task at hand.
“Ha! Deny it all you like, but if Turians could blush I'm sure you'd be a nice shade of crimson right about now,” James replied smugly.
“Remind me why I brought you along again?” Garrus sighed.
“Uh, because I'm amazing company? Also you thought it would seem more suspicious if you went out alone. And I was bored.”
“Right...”
“So where is this place anyway?”
“We're almost there.”
After a couple more turns, James was about to comment on them being lost but Garrus pointed to a place that could only loosely be described as a shop. The two walked in and Vega quickly got distracted looking at all the shelves full of queer and exotic items. Garrus went directly to the shopkeeper and began speaking in hushed tones with an intensity that clearly made the Salarian uncomfortable. Apologizing profusely, the proprietor practically bolted into his back room before returning with a small package. Garrus opened it just enough to peer inside before closing it again and giving the Salarian a nod and his credit chit.
Movement caught Vega's eye and his attention turned instead to the other customers in the shop. There were more than he would have expected based on its location, and the clothing they all wore marked them as members of the Citadel's high society. This place must be pretty pricey. He felt a sudden pang of uneasiness and began scanning the room's occupants a little more closely.
There. His eyes landed on an older human man who felt distinctly out of place. The man didn't appear to be browsing at all, nor was he dressed like the rest. Their gazes met and he frowned before saying something that James couldn't hear. As Vega began to move towards him across the store, the man reached inside his coat.
“Shit! Garrus!”
James barely made it behind the base of one of the display cases before the shots shattered its glass above his head. He could only watch as a grenade bounced along the floor towards his Turian friend's feet, exploding in a concussive flash that threw Garrus into the wall of shelves with a crash. The other customers were all screaming as more assailants rushed in, corralling them into a corner. The obvious leader held his gun in the Salarian's face, forcing him to push a button that brought security doors slamming down over the entrance and all the windows.
Vega remained crouched behind the stone display base, cussing up a storm. The security doors were blocking his comm signals from reaching the Normandy. He was lucky the entrance had been on the opposite side or else they would have flanked him. Not that it mattered much in the end. He'd counted at least six hostiles, plus they had hostages.
“So, boy, this is a friend of yours?”
James peeked out to see the older man yank a stunned Garrus to his feet and grab his sidearm, forcing its barrel up under the Turian's chin. The Marine grit his teeth and ducked back again. They were playing beyond dirty on this.
“Yeah he is, and I'd prefer to get him back in one piece. What do you want?”
“Oh I thought that part was fairly obvious. This store is quite exclusive, you know. The only people who shop here are those who have lots of credits, or know someone who does. You two were a bit of an anomaly, but once I saw your friend here buy something I knew there was more to you than meets the eye.”
“You bet your ass there is! I suggest you guys bail out now before you lose more than a little profit-” James was cut short as a shot went off, eliciting a scream from the bystanders. He stuck his head out again in alarm. If they had shot Garrus...
The Turian was still standing, but blood streaked down the side of his face from a gash along his cheekbone. There was a large hole in the wall next to his head. He looked furious, but mostly unharmed. James breathed a sigh of relief before his eyes met the other man's. He seemed amused. It made Vega's blood boil.
“Now then, where was I? Ah yes. The first thing I want is for you to slide your weapon over to my associates. Then you may come out and join us. After that, I will begin going through each of our lovely guests to either garner release credits from them, or find out who best to contact. So. If you don't mind?” He made a flourish with his open hand while pressing the gun further under Garrus' chin.
James continued to curse under his breath as he slid his gun into the waiting hands of a Batarian. Standing up, he walked over to stand near Garrus and crossed his arms defiantly. The leader backed up slowly, keeping the handgun trained comfortably between the two as he smiled smugly.
“Salarian. Open up your back room.”
“Yes, sir. Right away, sir,” the storekeeper stammered out as he scurried over to the door and unlocked it with shaking hands.
“I don't really see these pathetic creatures giving me too much trouble,” he motioned to the other customers. “But you two, I don't trust to behave. Krall, Marco - take them in the back and restrain them. Make sure they can't cause us any trouble. In fact, why don't you stay back there with them.”
“If you say so, Mr. White...” The Batarian glared at them unhappily before shoving them into the room ahead of him. A younger man followed behind.
'Mr. White' came along to oversee, otherwise James may have considered trying something. But with that man and his gun watching, he was forced to allow Krall to tie him securely to a chair while Marco did the same to Garrus. Satisfied, White left and shut the door behind him.
“See, Garrus? I told you we were gonna be late.”
“Really? An 'I told you so' right now?” The Turian couldn't help chuckling.
“So how long do you think it'll take them to figure out we're missing?”
“Hey! Stop talking!” The Batarian stepped forward and cracked the butt of his gun across Vega's face. Blood began to trickle down from a cut on his eyebrow.
“What do you think you're doing?” Garrus growled, straining against his bonds. Marco stepped up and gave him the same treatment.
“Lay off, man!” James barked at the young man, causing him to flinch.
Krall used his fist this time, sending the Marine's head snapping back from the force. James grinned and spit out a mouthful of blood as he glared defiantly at the two guards.
“Keep hitting me if you feel like it, but Commander Shepard isn't gonna be very happy when she finds out what you did to her boyfriend.”
“C-Commander Shepard? As in, the Savior of the Citadel?” Marco visibly paled.
“Ha! That's a new one. You think I'm going to believe that you're Commander Shepard's boyfriend?” Krall remained unfazed.
“I wasn't talking about me,” James tilted his head toward Garrus.
“The Turian? That seems... unlikely,” even as he said it, the Batarian began to look less comfortable.
“Yeah, personally I haven't been able to figure out what she sees in him-” James continued.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence...” Garrus grumbled.
“But facts are facts. And yeah, the Commander probably does have enough money to bail us out. Buuut it's really not her style. I wouldn't be surprised if she came busting in here any second. I tried to warn your boss, but he didn't seem interested.”
The guards looked at each other fearfully. They'd both heard enough stories to know that the human Spectre could indeed force her way in and take them all out easily. The only real question was whether or not this human was telling the truth. Being a Normandy crew member would explain why a couple of soldiers had enough credits to shop here...
After some quiet deliberations between the two, Marco stepped over to the door and banged on it loudly three times. A very perturbed Mr. White opened it. The younger man whispered into his ear, causing an eyebrow to rise slowly. Shoving Marco aside, White stepped in and pulled out his gun before leveling it squarely at Vega's face.
“You seem to have convinced my associates of something that I find very difficult to believe. So I'll ask you myself. Keep in mind that I have very little patience for liars,” he tightened his grip on the trigger, eyes narrowed. “Are you and your comrade really with Commander Shepard?”
“Damn straight we are,” James stared back at him with unwavering determination.
White's demeanor didn't change, but James could see the uncertainty begin creeping into his eyes. He lowered the gun and strode quickly out of the room, motioning for the other two to stay. Krall and Marco stood together as close to the door as they could manage without blocking it, keeping a wary eye on their hostages.
“So. How long?” James turned back to Garrus.
“You realize they'll be ready for Shepard now, right? Can't say I'm pleased you just put my girlfriend in more danger...” The Turian eyed him disapprovingly.
“Come on, Scars. Nobody's ready for Lola. If they think they are, that just makes it even easier.”
“Well you're not wrong,” Garrus sighed. “Once they realize we're late, that'll raise some suspicion - I hate being late. Then they’ll notice the comm interference. If they get EDI's help to track us down... I'd say they could be here in less than an hour.”
“How long has it been?”
“Since we got here? Maybe thirty minutes.”
Mr. White stormed back in, clearly agitated but attempting to appear in control of the situation. He motioned for Krall and Marco to bring the hostages out to the main area, making sure to keep their arms bound just in case.
“I have double-checked with the proprietor. These doors are blast-resistant and should be able to hold out against almost anything your Commander has on hand to throw at them. If she does manage to make it through, my men are ready and waiting to take her down by any means necessary. Alive would be a plus of course. I'm sure she's worth a king's ransom-”
“Pardon the interruption, but… it sounds like you're expecting Shepard to come alone,” Garrus tilted his head and quirked an eyebrow.
“Well... yes,” he frowned.
“What do you think, James? Will she handle this herself?”
“She probably could. But I doubt it.”
“What kind of team will she bring with her?” Their captor brandished his weapon threateningly. James nonchalantly started listing off possibilities.
“Well there's a couple of Krogan on the Citadel she could grab. Oh, or some of her biotic pals.”
“She does seem to have a lot of those,” Garrus chimed in.
“There's also a famous bounty hunter, a Quarian admiral, a walking AI...”
“Fine, I get it! The Commander has a lot of allies. Who does she usually take?” Mr. White was clearly getting frustrated as a bead of sweat dripped down his forehead. The two looked at each other and shrugged before replying in unison.
“Us.”
The statement was punctuated by the horrendous screeching sound of straining metal at the front of the store, followed by a dull explosion and the cracking of stone along the wall to their right. Glowing blue energy enveloped the blast doors as another explosion shook dust from the ceiling and sent more cracks splintering across the wall.
The other hostages whimpered but also began to look hopeful at the thought of rescue. The criminals all turned to their boss uneasily. Stealing from a bunch of rich folks was one thing, but facing off against Commander Shepard? It was not what they signed up for.
“How can she be here already?! Was this a setup all along?” White shouted furiously, alternating pointing his gun at the door and the wall while stepping behind James and Garrus.
“Hey man, we're as surprised as you. I would've given it at least another ten minutes,” the Marine couldn't help grinning.
A cloud of dust erupted into the room as a pair of Krogan warriors slammed the rest of the way through the wall, shotguns raised. Simultaneously, the metal blast doors were ripped clean off the front and tossed aside while two Asari strode in with sub-machine guns. The dust began to settle as one last figure stepped through the debris, an assault rifle resting easily in her gauntleted hands.
“There you two are. Having trouble?” There was a hint of amusement in her voice, but her brilliant blue eyes held barely-contained rage as they locked onto the man cowering behind them.
“Hey, Lola. Nice of you to drop by.”
“Are we gonna have a problem here?” Shepard asked the room as a whole, gaze never leaving Mr. White.
The thugs took a moment to look at her, then their employer, then back at her. All of them dropped their weapons and bolted for the exits, stumbling over each other as they attempted to take a wide berth around the Krogan and Asari. Grunt and Wrex growled threateningly as they ran by, eliciting more than a few squeaks of terror.
“Damn you, Shepard,” White’s voice was shaking. “This score was going to be enough to get me a ticket out of this galaxy and away from those fucking Reapers!”
“Ticket out of the galaxy, huh? Sounds like a scam. I’m probably doing you a favor,” her gaze didn’t waver. “Now why don’t you let my people go before something regrettable happens.”
“This is your fault. All of it is your fault! The Reapers probably wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for you!” His voice took on a note of crazed desperation as he aimed the gun between James and Garrus, firing straight at the Commander.
The bullet sent a shimmer across her shield as it impacted before dropping harmlessly to the ground. A second shot rang out and Mr. White slumped to the floor. There were some scraping noises and muttering as a familiar Quarian dropped to the floor behind the captives.
“Good to see you made it after all, Tali,” the Commander quipped.
“You know I hate vents, Shepard…” Tali shook a finger in her friend’s direction before undoing her teammates’ restraints. “Unfortunately, once again it turned out for the best.”
Waving her team towards the other hostages, Shepard stepped up to her own rescued people. She went to James first, taking his chin in her hand and tilting his head so she could see the extent of the damage. Satisfied that it was only minor cuts and bruising, she gave him a brief hug before moving on. James felt a pang of guilt – she wouldn’t have given him a hug unless she’d been really worried.
Stepping up to Garrus, Shepard gently placed her hands on both sides of his face. She slid her thumb too close to the new gash under his eye, causing the Turian to wince. Her face clouded over with concern. He reached up to take her hands in his, pressing his lips to them before placing them down at her sides.
“Guess I needed rescuing yet again. Good thing I have this wonderful girlfriend who can pretty much take on anything,” he attempted a smile before sighing heavily. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to ruin-”
He was cut off as Shepard pressed her lips to his in a passionate, relieved kiss. James catcalled from the side, garnering a shove from Liara. Grunt and Wrex chuckled and elbowed each other, always entertained to see the Commander being a softie. The Normandy crewmates were the only ones left in the store at this point (or what was left of it).
“So are we just letting the rest of those pendejos go, Lola?” Vega queried once the two lovebirds separated.
“I’m sure C-Sec has responded to our alert by now. They can handle the rest. Besides, I think we’re late for a party?” She winked at James as they turned to leave.
“Aw man! Who told?”
“We had to give her some reason why you two not showing up was a big deal,” Liara sighed.
“We’ll have a chat about personal use of top-level clearance later,” Shepard said to Garrus as she reluctantly stepped away. He began to stammer out a reply but her laughter stopped him. “Come on everyone. I think I saw Cortez and Traynor trying to sneak some cakes onto the Normandy.”
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The party was a great success. The shuttle bay was really the only place on the Normandy with enough open space to comfortably hold such a large gathering, but nobody seemed to mind. The guys even dragged some furniture in from the lounges. Many friends from across the years made an appearance to celebrate the woman who’d brought them all together despite their differences. Drinking, relaxing, talking, and laughing were the only real events but in the end it was exactly what everyone needed.
The night wound down and most partygoers returned to their homes or sleeping quarters. James had conked out on one of the couches more than an hour prior but Shepard wouldn’t allow anyone to mess with him. As the last guest left, it took Garrus a moment to spot his girlfriend sitting on top of the shuttle with her legs dangling off the edge. He made his way up to join her, matching the comfortable position.
“Hi Garrus,” she glanced over at him and smiled slightly.
“Hey yourself. Did you have a good time?”
“Yeah. I certainly have a crazy group of friends, don’t I?”
“That you do,” Garrus chuckled. He paused for a moment before producing a small box from his armor. “I, uh… didn’t get the chance to give this to you earlier.”
“Give me…?” She looked down at the box. “Garrus, you didn’t have to get me anything.”
“I know. But I wanted to,” he placed it gently into her hand.
Shepard shook her head at him but accepted the gift. She ran her fingers along the smooth wooden box before slowly opening the lid. A small gasp escaped her lips as she spotted its contents. The box contained a gorgeous angel wing pendant, sparkling silver in the overhead lights. A secondary blue metal swirled in accents that further enhanced the pendant’s beauty and intricacy.
She lifted it out and fondled it carefully, turning it over and over in admiration. Garrus produced a mirrored version of the pendant and reached over to connect it with hers, revealing a heart linked across the two.
“I thought maybe you could wear this for me. That way I’ll always know a guardian angel has its eye on you. And you’ll be extra careful to protect that piece of my heart…” he whispered, gazing lovingly at her face.
“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to have more than one guardian angel,” she turned to him with a smile, eyes glistening as she touched her forehead to his. “It seems you have part of my heart to protect as well. I’ll hold you to that.”
“Happy Birthday, Chrystal.”
“I love you, Garrus...”