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Never Again	By : ArcadiaJones Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 5322 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or ideas of Mass Effect. They belong to Bioware, and I am making no money writing this story.

Chapter List
- 1-One
- 2-Two
- 3-Three
- 4-Four
- 5-Five
- 6-Six
- 7-Seven
- 8-Eight
- 9-Nine
- 10-Ten
- 11-Eleven
- 12-Twelve
- 13-Thirteen
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Author’s Note: You’ll have to forgive me for taking Garrus out of character, both here and later on in the story. The only excuse I’ll give is the time-old, cliché saying that “Love can change a man!” I’ve also changed the way the beginning scene of Mass Effect 2 went down, since I thought it more appropriate to have him running to find Shepard rather than Kaidan or Liara (and sorry to all the Ashley fans out there, but no matter what play-through I am on, she ALWAYS dies on Virmire).

Three

They didn’t make love that night, but rather fell asleep in one another’s arms. And after that, there wasn’t even time for cuddling. Between Shepard being called to the Citadel to explain her actions, or filing a new report, or attending some Alliance meeting or another, the only time she ever had to herself was spent trying to catch up on sleep. Garrus gave her space, hoping that they would have time to finally be alone once everything had gotten a chance to settle down. But he never stopped thinking about her. Every moment of every day, she was in his mind; he would never forget the sparkle in her eyes when she had held his little token close.

The few times that he saw her, he noticed that she kept the flower pinned to her collar for everyone to see. Perhaps they hadn’t found the time to show each other how they felt, but that gesture was enough for Garrus to understand her heart.

Two weeks later they were in deep space on the Council’s order, hunting for geth. It was a stupid mission, and they all knew it. The geth were merely the foot soldiers of a much larger threat—a threat that the Citadel and the rest of the galaxy wanted to ignore. Shepard was tense, every command clipped and impatient. She was hoping that they could get this patrolling mission over with quickly so that they could get down to the real business of figuring out when the Reaper fleet would arrive.

Garrus was looking over the propulsion systems with Tali on the engineering deck when the Collectors hit. The first blast hit and sent people flying across the room as the ship shook from the impact. Garrus was the first on his feet, helping Tali and the other engineers find their footing.

“What’s happening?!” someone screamed.

As if on cue, another crew member came hurtling down the stairs.

“We’re under attack! The Commander has ordered everyone to the escape pods!”

Garrus felt his stomach sink down to his toes. As the other engineers scattered around him, he ran forward and grabbed the man who had announced the attack.

“Where is Shepard?” he shouted over the roar above them.

“She’s up above sending out the distress beacon!”

Without another word, Garrus was sprinting up the stairs, pausing only long enough to grab his breather helmet. On the deck above, people were scattering every which way as they fought to make it into an escape shuttle. He fought his way past them, heading towards the black-armored figure trying to put out a fire with an extinguisher. It was a hopeless task; the fires were spreading too quickly.

“Shepard!” he cried, grabbing her arm. “What are you doing? We need to get out of here!”

“I know, but—“

“Mayday, mayday, mayday!” Joker’s voice echoed above them. “This is SSV Normandy! We’ve suffered heavy damage from an unknown enemy!”

Shepard looked at him, her eyes steely. “Get to the escape pod! I’m going to get Joker!”

“No!” His grip on her arm tightened. “I will not leave this ship without you!”

“Get your ass on that shuttle!” she barked back at him. “There is an escape pod by the cockpit—I will meet you when we get out of this hellhole!”

Every instinct was screaming at him to throw her over his shoulder and get the hell out. But with the way she glared at him, he knew that such an act would end badly for him. Once Shepard got her mind set on something, it would take a supernova to move her. Reluctantly, he nodded.

“Good! Get everyone you can onto a shuttle on your way out!”

And with that, she was off. Garrus watched her go, wondering why his heart felt so cold.

“C’mon, Joker! We have to get out of here!”

“No! I won’t abandon the Normandy! I can still save her!”

“The Normandy’s lost! Going down with the ship won’t change that!”

Joker looked down. “Yeah, ok…help me up.” When he raised his head, his eyes widened in horror. “They’re coming around for another attack!”

Not waiting any longer, Shepard grabbed the pilot, heedless of his brittle bones as she dragged him out of his seat and nearly threw him into the nearby escape shuttle. But she didn’t have time to follow him; all around her, the fires raged. Whatever was attacking them continued to hit the ship again and again with that deadly weapon. She slammed the button that would launch the shuttle, and then watched numbly as her ship crumbled around her. Then…Shepard was floating. The cold vacuum of space enveloped her, and before she knew it, the atmosphere of a nearby planet began drawing her in. The last coherent thought she had was an image of Garrus’s face.

Laughing; shouting; smiling…every emotion, every word.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise…”

Garrus felt his heart seize up suddenly, a feeling of terrible dread descending on him. There was a small window in the pod, and he scrambled for it, pushing several other people out of his way to get to it. In the distance, he saw the ruins of the Normandy, slowly drifting down to the surface of the planet nearby. With his sharp eyesight, Garrus spotted something that looked like a person. It was impossible to tell anything else from this distance, but somehow he just knew that it was her.

“Shepard!” he gasped, hands gripping the edges of the window as if he could somehow reach her.

Moments later, the figure began its plummet into the atmosphere, the body now wreathed in flames. Garrus felt his heart rip in half.

“SHEPARD!”
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Never Again