Work Text:
"Oy, Vakarian. Got a minute?" Zaeed caught Garrus as he was walking out of Engineering.
"Sure,” Garrus shrugged. “Going to regale me with another one of your Jessie tales?" Garrus asked as he made his way to Starboard Cargo. He found a spare crate and made himself as comfortable as he could get.
"Remember on Zorya, I told you that Vido and I founded the Blue Suns? Well, there was a 3rd man: our cover man, as we called him. He was just as much a founding member as I was. He was the best tech we'd ever known; crazy son of a bitch named John. There wasn't a security system he couldn't crack; no mech he couldn't hack."
Zaeed shook his head and laughed before continuing, "He once hijacked an Eclipse gunship just so we could take it for a joyride. He was a shit pilot though. Crashed the damn thing into a base full of those crazy blue bitches. Had to fight our way out, just the two of us."
"You don't much seem like the joy riding type," Garrus said.
"Things were a lot different before I got shot in the face and kicked out of the organization I built,” Zaeed added, defensively.
"Point taken," Garrus quickly replied.
"John was the only friend I ever had. Only man I ever trusted at my back. He helped me get back on my feet after I got shot.” Zaeed was looking over Garrus’ head, lost in a painful memory. “Helping me is what got him killed in the first place,” he added quietly.
“Did Vido come for you again?” Garrus asked, leaning forward.
“No,” Zaeed turned and walked over to Jessie, “But Vido didn’t like that John and I started our own two man racket in the Terminus. During the Skyllian Blitz aftermath, Vido sent Batarians to finish what he’d started. I took care of the handful that came after me on Illium; but an entire fucking platoon went after John on Mindoir.”
Garrus sat up a little straighter at the mention of Mindoir. Shepard was one of the few survivors from Mindoir. No doubt she’d seen some horrible things; many of which she never spoke of.
“You see,” Zaeed continued, “John was a family man. I never understood how he maintained the balance, but I always knew that it would get him killed.” The weathered mercenary dropped his hands to his sides and pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against. He turned his back to Garrus and walked to the trash compactor at the back of the hold, grabbing the railing as if his life depended on it.
“Fucking Batarians,” he muttered as he hung his head. Garrus could see the railing shaking under the ferocity of Zaeed’s grip. He took a deep, steadying breath, before letting go and walking back to his perch near the model Turian cruiser.
He crossed his arms over his chest, and then nodded at the Avenger he called Jessie that lay in pieces on a crate near Garrus. “That was John’s gun. Damn thing was top of the line back when he first got it. Now it ain’t worth shit and spare parts are getting harder and harder to come by. But I just can’t get rid of it.”
“Did you ever find the Batarians responsible?”
“No, but I heard they got theirs at Torfan. Fucking scum of the galaxy, you ask me,” Zaeed hissed.
“So, what, you carry that gun around as a reminder?” Garrus asked, confused. “I hadn’t pegged you for sentimental, Massani.”
“Like I said, John Shepard was a family man,” Zaeed said firmly, stepping closer to Garrus.
Shepard? Mindoir? Couldn’t be. Garrus got to his feet as Zaeed took another step toward him.
“He had a wife named Celeste, and two kids; A son named Andrew and a daughter named Jessie. By the time I got to Mindoir, nearly half the fucking colony was dead and the other half was long gone on a slaver ship. The Alliance marines were clearing out the Batarians that got left behind. I made my way to John’s place and found Jessie passed out, covered in blood and clutching John’s rifle. I thought she was dead like the rest of ‘em,” he said, bowing his head.
“But when I tried to take the gun from her, she coughed, sputtering blood all over the place. I picked her up and carried her to the first Alliance soldier I could find. Then I took that gun and helped with the rest of the clear out effort. Every Batarian I’ve killed since then has always been for her.”
The two battle hardened men stared long and hard at each other. Garrus was at a loss for words. He had no idea that Jessie Shepard -- his Shepard -- and Zaeed had a history. He guessed there really were some things that were just too painful to talk about.
“You wanna know why I’m telling you all this shit,” Zaeed rumbled. It wasn’t a question so much as a statement. “The woman in charge of this ship, this mission? She’s the only fucking person in this whole goddamn galaxy that I’d give my life for. And I’ll be damned if I let her get distracted because some turian prick has a human fetish.”
Offended, Garrus leaned toward Zaeed before he even realized he’d moved. “I do NOT have a human fetish. Shepard and I went through hell together before she died, and she just pulled my ass out of the fire with her second shot at life. I’d sacrifice myself to make sure she stays alive too. And our relationship is none of your damn business,” Garrus said, mandibles clamped tight to his face in anger.
Zaeed didn’t back down. He and Garrus were practically nose to nose staring daggers at each other. Turian nostrils didn’t flare, but Garrus was furious to the point that he was practically snarling; which did cause the ridges on his nose to expand and contract.
“You’ve got balls, Vakarian, I’ll give ya that,” Zaeed said as he took a step back. “I could tell there was something between you two the moment you took that helmet off on Omega.”
Garrus shifted from one foot to the other while the anger subsided, giving way to the discomfort he felt for being predictable – for lack of a better word.
“You seem to know an awful lot about us…” was the only clipped response he could manage.
“It’s hard not to notice how many times she goes to see you in the main battery,” Zaeed interrupted.
Garrus turned to the monitor that sat on the desk opposite the door. Zaeed put his hands up defensively when Garrus turned back to face him. “The cameras were already there, I just tapped into them. Can never be too careful with Cerberus.”
The turian simply shook his head. “Does she know?”
“Of course not, and you better not tell her,” Zaeed said as he stepped forward, pointing a finger in Garrus’ face.
That must have been how the Illusive Man got Zaeed on board with this mission against the Collectors, Garrus thought. In addition to an obscene amount of credits, of course. Now it all made sense why he was so insistent that Vido be killed; why he went to such extremes to make sure Shepard didn’t get in his way. His vengeance ran deep, but it wasn’t completely selfish.
The old merc calmed down and let his shoulders slump with a shrug. “Maybe I’ll tell her about everything if we survive this bloody mission.”
“I’m sure she’d want to know the truth about her father when we make it back through the Omega 4 relay,” Garrus said as he extended a hand to Zaeed.
The merc took a long look at it before closing the distance and shaking Garrus’ hand. “Cocky bastard, ain’t you?”
“No. I just know Jessie is going to get us through this.”
“Careful, Vakarian,” Zaeed spoke through a crooked smile. “You’re starting to grow on me.”
“Don’t worry, Massani. I’m sure it’ll pass,” he replied with a mandible flare.