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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
- 5
- 6
- 7
Six

After their foray in the debriefing room, Garrus had helped Shepard to the elevator and then to her room, where the pair flopped down on her bed and fell asleep in moments. It was in the curve of her turian’s strong body that she awoke, his arms wrapped possessively around her. Shepard was sore, but happy. Happy to be alive.

She looked up at Garrus’s face, amazed at how relaxed his sharp features were in sleep. Shepard wasn’t sure if she had ever seen him so at peace. But she knew that as soon as he opened his eyes, the scars would be there. Tenderly, Shepard traced the tribal tattoos painted across his left cheek with her fingers. What had happened while she was away?

Reacting to her touch, the turian awoke, blue eyes blinking down at her blearily. Slowly, his mandibles widened into a grin.

“Morning.”

Shepard smiled back. “Good morning.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Well, my mouth’s a little swollen, but I can feel my legs now.” She winked at him then laughed as a light growl rumbled in his chest and his arms pulled her closer. “Easy tiger!”

“Never,” he murmured, lifting himself up so he could lean over her, sharp teeth nibbling at her chin.

Shepard didn’t want to push him away—that felt so damn good—but she knew that they couldn’t do this right now. She had wasted enough time waiting for his recovery, and no amount of love would stop the Collectors from abducting more colonists. With a groan, Shepard pushed up on his chest, rolling him off of her. The look on his face almost made her change her mind—but the Commander took over and Shepard forced herself to her feet.

“Shepard…can’t the world wait?” The note of pleading in Garrus’s voice was charming, if a little uncharacteristic for the normally stoic sniper.

“I wish it would,” she mused softly. “But unless you want another EDI interruption, I suggest we get dressed.” Shepard pulled a thin shirt over her head before looking back at him, smiling wryly. “We’ve got a world to save, bud. Are you with me?”

With swift, graceful movements, Garrus was on his feet and in front of her in moments. He rested a hand on her shoulder.

“You needn’t ask.”

Shepard ventured to the Citadel where she was reinstated as a Spectre. The title was more ceremony than anything, but as she had put it, “Better to keep them happy for now. They might actually prove useful in the days to come.”

After that, it was easy to fall back into their battle groove, Shepard throwing herself into gunfights as always while Garrus covered her back with steady hands and well-aimed shots. They fought through swarms of mercenaries and geth, building up a team worthy of taking on the Collector threat. Garrus watched each new member with a skilled eye, giving Shepard his advice when she asked.

“Mordin’s a smart one, and he can handle himself in a fight. A good, dangerous combination. Erm…maybe you could get some allergy medication from him too? On the sly, you know…”

“Jack will be trouble if you can’t keep her reigned in. But she’s strong.”

“Grunt could be dangerous, but then if you could handle Wrex, I have no doubt this big baby will be no problem for you. Just let me know if he needs a good concussive shot in the ass to keep him in line.”

It was a bit strange to see all these new faces, but it was obvious that the Illusive Man had an idea of what he was doing. With a team like this, they stood a good chance. When the call came for them to head to Horizon, Garrus was eager to see these bastards for himself. It would feel good to kill some of the scum.

Shepard gathered Garrus and Mordin, the latter outfitting them with new armor he believed would stave off the paralyzing seeker swarms. The salarian didn’t make his argument sound very comforting, but it was the best they had and there was no more time to waste.

Running through Horizon was an unsettling experience, with all the paralyzed bodies, buzzing swarms, and Collector pods littering the place. Shepard was quiet for the most part, though Garrus could tell that her mind was ticking as sharply as ever. There was much for the Collectors to answer for; this was just another brick in the wall.

“Take cover!” Shepard roared as the giant, alien monstrosity closed in on them.

Garrus and Mordin obeyed, ducking down behind some of the cargo that littered the area. But it was obvious that the construct was after Shepard, and the pair did all they could to slow the beast down.

Shepard cursed as the construct’s heavy weapon beam struck the cover just above her head. She had the particle beam she had found in her hands, but it was difficult to find an opening when the damn thing wouldn’t let up. It would have to recharge sometime—she hoped—and Shepard would make sure that she did not miss that opening.

One…two…three…

The attack stopped and she rolled out of cover, aiming her heavy weapon and squeezing the trigger in one, swift movement. A beam of burning yellow energy arched out and struck the construct dead-on; the beast howled in pain.

“Mordin!” Shepard shouted about the sound of her gun. “Get ready!”

“Ready, Shepard!”

Throwing herself back behind cover, Shepard listened as the salarian’s tech attack scorched the hole she had left in the construct’s armor. It howled again, and then shook the ground as its corpse toppled to the earth.

“Defense towers are online,” EDI’s voice reported through her comm link.

“Fire!”

The GARDIAN tower’s guns came alive, firing at the Collector ship hovering over the colony. The vessel started to move, fast for its size, and managed to escape before the towers could inflict too much damage. Shepard ran in the ship’s direction, squeezing off a few shots from her pistol in its direction though she knew it was pointless.

“GODDAMNIT!” she screamed.

Garrus and Mordin met up with her, the former gently grabbing her elbow.

“It’s over, Shepard. There’s nothing more we can do.”

She sighed, frustrated, as she holstered her gun. “I know that! But…we were so close! Perhaps if we had gotten here just a bit sooner, we could have gotten those towers online sooner and the colonists…”

“Foolish to dwell on ‘ifs’,” Mordin remarked. “Did what we could. Half of colony remains. Did well for limited scope of information to act on.”

“Half isn’t good enough,” Shepard muttered beneath her breath, but didn’t try to press the point any further.

“Commander Shepard…’Hero of the Citadel’…first human Spectre…defender of humanity.”

The trio turned towards the new voice, Shepard’s eyes widening in shock as Kaidan Alenko approached her. The Illusive Man had told her that he was stationed here, but she had never imagined they would meet again.

“Kaidan! I’m glad to see you’re safe.” They grabbed one another’s wrists firmly in a soldier’s greeting before stepping apart. Shepard was glad to see her old teammate alive, but it was strange that he seemed so…cold.

“What’s wrong?” she asked hesitantly.

Kaidan watched her coolly, arms crossed over his chest. “I’ve been hearing some rumors about you, Shepard. Rumors that you’re working for Cerberus.”

“I died, Kaidan,” she reminded him. “It took them two years, but Cerberus managed to bring me back. What kind of person would I be to spit in their faces after that?”

“You don’t owe Cerberus anything! They are evil, Shepard! Think of how many of their operatives we killed during our hunt for Saren! And now you’re working for them?” The coldness in his gaze sharpened, and Shepard willed him not to speak his next words. But the man had always been a stubborn bastard.

“Maybe it would’ve been better if you’d stayed dead,” he spat. “At least then the world wouldn’t have to see how far you’ve fallen.”

Shepard lifted her arm to keep Garrus from charging the man, doing her best to keep her own calm. The turian obeyed, though he continued to glare at the human, his eyes on fire.

“If that’s really how you feel,” Shepard replied evenly, “then I’m sorry. I thought we had understood one another better. I can only assure you that I do not trust Cerberus, but they are the only ones not blinding themselves to the Reaper threat. If it takes my allegiance to them to help stop these colony abductions, then so be it.”

Kaidan studied the ground for a long moment before finally lifting his eyes to hers once more. No apology there, but they were no longer so cold, either.

“I trust you, Shepard. But I can never trust them. Take care of yourself.”

And with that he was gone. Between the physical and emotional planes, Horizon had taken its toll on the Commander. Sighing, she accessed her comm link.

“EDI, send down the shuttle. I’m sick of looking at this place.”

Even with Kaidan and his thoughtless words looming over her head, Garrus managed to keep the Commander’s spirits high as they continued to build their team. If nothing else could be said about working for Cerberus, they certainly let their people see a lot of exotic places. Garrus continued to offer his analysis:

“We already know that Tali is a strong addition. It’ll be good to have her at our backs again.”

“Samara’s biotics will be indispensable to our fight. With that oath she swore to you, even more so.”

“Thane…shouldn’t be trusted.”

Shepard almost found Garrus’s adversity to Thane an amusing thing; it had to be the first time she had ever seen him so jealous. It was impossible for her to not find the drell incredibly sexy—especially with his lithe, muscular body rippling beneath those tight leathers—but Garrus’s fears that she might run off with him were completely unfounded. Shepard wouldn’t have waited so long to find her turian only to crush his heart in her hands now.

But his jealousy was quickly getting out of hand.

“Um, Commander?” Joker’s voice said over the intercom in her cabin.

Shepard was sitting at her desk, poring over yet another batch of paperwork. It didn’t seem to matter that she was a “hero” and no longer with the Alliance; there was always more paperwork to do. She sighed.

“What is it, Joker?”

“Not to worry you or anything, but Garrus is picking a fight with Thane down in the mess. Dr. Chakwas is threatening to unleash some biologic weapon…I don’t know if she’s serious, but I really don’t want to find out.”

Shepard rubbed at her temples; it didn’t seem to matter what she said, the turian’s instincts would always override her assurances. Damn males and their pride.

“I’ll be down there in a minute. Tell the doc to hold on to her weapon.”

“Roger.”

It only took a few minutes for her to get to the elevator and ride it down to the third floor. As soon as the doors opened, she could hear voices raised in anger—one of them definitely belonging to the ship’s elderly doctor.

“If you two don’t back off and get back to your rooms, you will regret it!”

“Stay out of this, human,” the drell’s rasping voice warned. “The turian wishes to start a pointless fight, and I will oblige him.”

“Pointless? You dare to mock me? You know damn well why I’m here!”

“Because of some imagined slight? You search for any excuse to fight, though you know it is a waste of time.”

Shepard rounded the corner just as Garrus’s legs tensed in preparation to pounce at the assassin.

“Stop this now!” she shouted in a voice full of authority, cheeks flushed in anger.

Garrus and Thane—along with the small crowd that had gathered to watch the fight—all turned towards her. Dr. Chakwas let out a gusty sigh.

“It’s about bloody time!”

“Shepard, I—“ Garrus tried to find a quick explanation, but the argument died on his tongue as she raked him with a withering look before looking over at the drell.

“Thane,” she began, a bit more calmly, “I apologize for my comrade’s callousness. Were you injured in any fashion?”

“No, Shepard. I am fine.”

“Good. Then if you’ll excuse me…” Her angry gaze was back on Garrus, and he looked down, ashamed. Crooking her finger at him, Shepard stormed towards his station at the Main Battery, Garrus only a few steps behind. Once the door at the end of the hall had closed behind the pair, Dr. Chakwas turned to the rest of the gathered crew who were waiting to see what would happen next.

“Don’t you all have jobs? Get back to work!”

Garrus watched Shepard’s back, wondering just how angry she really was. He hadn’t meant to get so worked up…but for some reason, just seeing Thane’s face sent him flying off into a jealous rage. Garrus had just been sitting down to a lunch when the drell appeared—even had the nerve to sit next to him! And then Thane had had the gall to begin asking him questions about their Commander, starting off simply and then getting just a bit too personal for Garrus’s tastes. Before he knew it, he was throwing his tray across the room and trying to get his hands around Thane’s throat. Perhaps he had taken it a bit far…

Shepard finally turned around, her eyes locked on his. Garrus started to speak, only to be silenced as her fist connected solidly with his jaw. The force of the blow sent him stumbling backwards until his back hit the wall. Pain throbbed in the left side of his face—she had at least enough self-control not to strike the side of his face already falling apart. Garrus lifted a hand to the growing bruise, gaping at her.

“You idiot!” she hissed, ignoring the pain in her hand. “What were you thinking?”

“He wouldn’t stop asking questions about you! Things that he had no right thinking about!”

“Let people think what they want! Do you really believe something so asinine could affect me after everything that’s happened? Tell me what this is really about. Now.”

For the first time in two years, Garrus found himself fumbling for words. He felt foolish for his jealousy, and had no desire to confess the fact to her. But as he stood there, wilting beneath her intense glare, Garrus relented.

“Shepard…I’ve waited a long time to be with you. When you died, I…I lost myself. I abandoned everything I once knew and headed off to a life of a vigilante, doing everything possible to get myself killed, now that I think of it. I managed to get three separate mercenary crews vying for my head. When you showed up, running to my rescue…I thought you were a ghost. I truly believed that I had gone insane or that you had come to take me to my death.

“But when I realized that you were real, that I was alive… I can’t lose you again, Shepard. I won’t survive it this time.”

“And you think you’ll lose me to Thane?”

Not looking her in the eye, he nodded. Shepard sighed. She could understand his fears—the same thought had entered her mind from time to time—but it hurt her that he believed her feelings to be so fickle. It was that more than his insubordination that had angered her.

“Garrus…tell me what happened.”

He looked up at her, confused.

“Tell me what happened…on Omega. Tell me where you went while I was dead.”

Garrus turned away, tension stiffening every muscle in his body. Of all the things she could have asked of him, this hadn’t been what he expected. Thinking back on his team, on the brave men he had failed, only brought back more pain that he wasn’t sure how to handle. Other than getting even with the bastard who had betrayed them all. Garrus had told her about Sidonis, but that was the extent of it. Thinking of Sidonis brought only anger, which was so much better than the agony.

“Don’t push me away,” Shepard’s voice said just behind him. Her hands rested on his arms, making his skin tingle even beneath his armor. “How can I help you if you never let me in?”

With a shuddering sigh, Garrus began talking. The names of each of his old teammates passed by his lips, striking at his heart. But with Shepard there to absorb each one—to understand how he felt—the pain wasn’t so bad.
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Never Again