The Beginning of The End Chapter Five

"Garrus."

Shepard crutched her way over and grabbed Garrus' shoulder. He quickly turned to hug her.

He made sure she didn't fall over.

"Be safe."

Her heart skipped a beat when his voice softened as he said,

"Don't worry, Shepard. I'm more worried about you. Just, be careful out there. Make sure to email me. I'm gonna need the messages to keep myself from drowning of boredom."

"I can do that."

She said with a grin as she let go of him and they backed up from each other.

"Good-bye, Commander. Take care."

"Bye, Garrus. Same to you."

Shepard turned and crutched into the airlock. She watched him turn and walk away. Her heart sank as she watched his figure disappear around a corner. She seamed to be staring at nothing when Kaidan called her.

"Shepard, you coming?"

She didn't bother turning her head to look at him.

"Yeah, I need to speak to the council on the presidium and get some repairs done on the Norm. Go tell Joker to set off for the presidium."

She craned her head to look at him.

"Please."

He nodded as she clicked the airlock shut and locked it. She felt tears burn in her eyes, but she didn't let them fall. She knew she'd see him again. Just not for awhile.

Two weeks later.

Garrus had been receiving messages from his old C.O. For two weeks. He'd gotten the first message the day after she'd dropped him off on the Citadel. He knew she was busy taking care of Batarian space pirates, Blue Sun bases, Eclipse merc towers, slavers and Blood Pack Krogan. Everything she had to do throughout the weeks just kept piling on her shoulders. He wished he was there to help. He knew she needed him just by the way she wrote out her messages. The need and want in her writing made his chest clench. He was sitting in his 'office' that he shared with a couple of other men when his omni-tool bleeped. He checked his messages and saw the ' 1 New Message' and opened it.

It read:

Sent from Commander Shepard's Terminal:

Hey,

What are you up to?

-Shepard

1334 hours. 6 / 26 / 2183

He typed a quick reply and looked back at the piles of datapads he had to sort.

Minutes later his omni-tool beeped again. He checked it once again. Quickly he went back to work. He didn't want to get in trouble the first month he was back. He had promised Shepard he would stay out of any trouble.

,.,.,...,F..,L.,.,A.,.S,.,H.,.,.B.,.,.A.,.,.C.,.,.K.,.,.,.

"Stay out of trouble, please. I don't want you fired the first month or so that your back in C-sec."

"Don't worry, Shepard. I will I promise."

"Eve. My name is Eveline, but you can call me Eve."

Her eyes were glistening in the lights above us. She looked like she was about to cry, but she held it in. She is one tough woman. The top of her head was dark black, but the rest was almost a bright white.

Human hair was so intriguing and alien. It always had a different shade of color on every human. Some humans, mostly men, didn't even have hair. He resisted to run his talons through it.

"I promise, Eve."

.,.,.,.,.,E.,.,.,N.,.,.,D.,.,,.

Sent from Commander Shepard's Terminal:

Oh, yeah. Sorry, I really wish you were here. The Normandy is pretty empty these days.

I had a day off today for a holiday, but I'm still working anyway. I hate this specific holiday anywho.

Hope to see you soon.

-Shepard

1341 hours. 6 / 26 / 2183

He wrote another reply and went back to his work.

"Vakarian, what's that noise?"

The human named Frank Ernan, whispered as he popped his head into Garrus' little space.

"Nothing, sorry I disturbed you."

"Oh, messages eh? Who from? Another officer? What about your former C.O.?

Come on, Garrus! Tell me."

"Ernan, your going to get us in trouble. Please, just go back to your desk!"

"Ernan, It's probably his contact. Leave him alone already."

Yurak announced from his side of the office.

"A contact? I don't have a contact. Yeah, I'm messaging my old C.O. So what?"

Garrus shifted in his seat and looked back at his desk. That was when his omni-tool went off again.

He checked it again. As he read he heard Frank mutter under his breath.

Sent from Commander Shepard's Terminal:

It's uh, not an important holiday. Don't worry about it, Garrus.

We hit an old mine on Durak in the Aralakh system. Nothing great and new though.

Well, he's been eying me since you've been gone. I am actually afraid he'll do something stupid.

Too bad your not here to watch my back though. I'll let you sort those datapads.

Message you later.

-Shepard

1349 hours. 6 / 26 / 2183

"What's a contact?"

Ugh, today was going to be a long day.

OoOoO oOoOo

Shepard had made her rounds around the ship, but she was done and immediately got bored.

She already finished checking all of the drive core functions and the Mako.

She really wished Garrus was here to fix it, so that she didn't have to fix it now. It was something that took up time, but not enough. She took a shower and was now pacing in her cabin. She had the day completely off of any missions due to her birthday. Her leg had almost completely healed, but she still had a plastic brace around her ankle. The worst day of the year had finally shown up.

Kiana felt the urge to send a message to Garrus, but she knew he certainly didn't have a day off. She decided to anyway. She got a quick reply.

Sent from recipient Garrus .V.

I'm just sorting some datapads. Nothing too fancy.

What are you doing messaging me anyway?

.G.V.

1336 hours. 6 / 26 / 2183

She replied and waited again. Sprawled out on her bed eating an apple.

Her terminal beeped and she almost tripped on the stairs when she ran to her terminal.

Sent from recipient Garrus .V.

Wait, don't you have Alenko to keep you company?

What holiday?

Oh, and have you gone anywhere today?

.G.V.

1345 hours. 6 / 26 / 2183

She smiled at the terminal and typed out a reply. She sat there for a long time wondering what she should write. Should she tell him it was her birthday? No, then he'd be regretting the decision to go back to C-sec. She didn't want that for him. She wanted him to be happy right where he was. He seemed happy now and she didn't want to ruin it. A reply came back from her message.

Sent from recipient Garrus .V.

Well, if he does do something stupid. Bite him in the ass for me.

If it's not important than why did you get a day off?

Writing to you is so much better than sorting datapads, by a long shot.

Message me when your not busy.

P.S. Did you bring the Mako in the mine?

.G.V.

1353 hours. 6 / 26 / 2183

She chuckled and shut off her terminal. She would reply to him later. She'd had too much going on right now. She turned and headed for the terminal to reply to his messages, but a voice over the comm stopped her in her tracks. She gripped the bridge of her nose and put a hand too her hip. Then she turned and headed for the bridge.

OoOoO oOoOo

He checked his omni-tool one more time.

Still no messages. She must have gotten busy with something. It wasn't a huge deal and she did have a life also. It wasn't like all her life was set around messaging him all the time.

It had been seven hours ago since she'd last messaged him. He figured she got caught up in something and wasn't able to get back to him right away. Maybe, she was waiting for him to message her.

He sent her a message and went to bed.

No way he would sleep though.

He woke up the next morning with no messages. He went into the office that morning with reports that needed to be filed.

He worked for a couple of hours 'till he couldn't take it anymore. Something wasn't rubbing him right. His gizzard told him she was fine, his head told him she was fine...but his heart told him otherwise.

Eve told him once, that he should listen to his heart. Not his gizzard or his head, but his heart. It had been great advise, but now he didn't want to believe it.

Everything in him told him not to worry, but his heart refused. He still had work to do and he had to get to it, no matter what his heart told him. She could take care of herself. She had Alenko, Joker, Pressly, and the crew to take care of her. She had to be fine, but the rest of his day didn't go as smoothly as his gizzard and head wanted.

"GARRUS."

Garrus blinked rapidly and craned his neck to see Rev standing over him. His green eyes were very bright and his large grin was even more so. His tan skin was glowing in the afternoon sunlight that shone through the window.

"Rev, damn, it's been awhile!"

Garrus rose from his seat and shook his former colleague's hand. The human was still smiling.

"Yeah, I heard you worked with the great Commander Shepard to take down Saren. We all know how that went."

Garrus rubbed the back of his neck.

"Hhhmm, seems like that's getting around pretty quickly. So, what are you doing here anyway?"

"I was talking to the Pallin. He had some order forms for me. So, I heard you were here and decided to drop by. Just to say hi."

There was a silence between them for what seemed like an eternity. Then Rev spoke up.

"Uh, you noticed that that rhymed right? 'Cause that was really awkward."

Garrus broke out in a chuckle. Rev glared as he heard another laugh after Garrus'. Then another.

"You know, it's really not funny...until 'you' laugh at it."

Rev gestured to Garrus as he spoke. Then the laughter got even louder and Frank literally fell to the floor as he laughed. Garrus quickly stopped chuckling when he realized how loud they were being.

Garrus stepped over to Frank and hovered over him.

"Frank, get up. Your going to get caught if you keep sputtering your half-assed laugh."

Rev snorted and Garrus shot him a look. Rev's grin disappeared quickly and Garrus turned to look at
Yurak who had stopped laughing when Garrus did. At least Yurak was Turian, otherwise Garrus would have to lash them both instead of just Ernan. Humans were too..what's the word?..Unprofessional? No...Well, it was not something to be thinking about at that moment.

Frank groaned and sat back in his chair.

"So, Rev. I'm off at 1900, want to get a drink at the Dark Star or The Purgatory? I'll buy."

"Hell, yes."

Garrus chuckled at Rev's anxious expression.

Well, now he had something to look forward to and keep his mind off his C.O.

OoOoO oOoOo

Garrus and Rev took a couple of friends with them to the Purgatory.

It wasn't too busy, but the bustle of the crowd on the Citadel was awful. They had had to push their way through the crowds. When they were sitting in their booth and got their drinks, Frank stopped drinking his blue liquid.

"I wonder whats got all these people here."

"Eh, most of 'em are refugees."

Rev put his blue drink to his lips. Garrus had ordered a Turian brandy. He didn't want to get drunk, because he knew they'd need someone 'sober' to get them back to their apartments. Now that he was here in Purgatory he realized even a drink couldn't get his mind off of Shepard. He lifted his omni-tool to check his messages.

"Garrus, who are you messaging again?"

Rev glanced at Garrus.

"Isn't that none of your business, Frank? He can message who he wants."

Rev took another sip of his drink.

"Well, he does it all the time...He said he messages his old C.O."

Rev looked at Garrus again, but this time his face was stone serious.

"Garrus, enlighten me. Who was your old C.O.?"

Rev slowly put his glass on the table which made Garrus a little nervous.

Something was not going to end well and he could feel it.

"Uh, her name was Ev- her name was Shepard. Commander Shepard. Why?"

Rev looked at the two other men across the table.

"Garrus, you know-"

"What? What's going on?"

"I'll tell you back at the office. A bar is not a good place to discuss this."

A bad lump sat in his gizzard. Something defiantly wasn't right.

"I'm going to go get some more."

Rev slid out of the booth and Garrus drank out of his bottle. Yurak was looking at him with a worried expression. That's a really great way to stare at someone. Then he turned to Frank and nudged him.

"Um, Frank can I talk to you for a second?"

"Yeah, sure!"

The two also slid out of the booth leaving Garrus by himself. He lifted his omni-tool and sent a message to Shepard's terminal, but this time the message came back and had an Error code. Damn, this wasn't good. Rev slid back into the booth and Garrus shut off his omni-tool.

"Where's Franky and Yurak?"

"They left not sure why, but they haven't come back. I'm not even sure where they went."

Garrus took another swig of his brandy. Rev just sat next to him staring into his cup, and stirring it in a circular motion making the liquid inside run against the inside of it. He was never good at reading human emotions, but what he saw on Rev's face was a solemn look.

Shepard's expressions were always happy, determined, or angry. He'd never seen her sad or upset before. Well, she had been the easiest human on the ship to read facial expressions. He remembered her smiling face when she'd come down to the cargo bay to chat with him and Wrex.

He remembered her laugh. It was never loud and obnoxious or very quiet, but it was a small laugh that made anyone else laugh.

If she would smile you had to smile. If she laughed it made you laugh. He suddenly remembered one time when the crew was gathered in the quarters and Shepard started laughing at something Wrex had said. Then a few seconds later everyone was cracking up and the whole deck was filled with laughter.

He came back to reality when he heard his name.

"Garrus! What are you smiling about?"

All three of the men were looking at him strangely. Even Yurak had his mandibles clasped to his face and his eyes were almost burning a whole in his head. Wow, they got back when he didn't even notice.

"Uh, nothing."

Garrus looked down at his drink, and Frank chuckled. He turned to look at what Garrus was 'staring' at.

"Were you looking at that Asari, Garrus?"

"What? Hell, no."

Garrus snapped. His sub-harmonics were growling.

"Then what were you spacing out for?"

Yurak looking from one man to another as he tapped his talons on the table.

"He does that all the time, Frank. Has he not done it to you then? It looks like it's gotten worse since he worked for Eveline.

"You have no right to call her that!"

Garrus snapped and turned his neck toward Rev.

Rev almost dropped his cup when he saw Garrus snap his head toward him. Garrus' glare faded as he looked back at the table. Garrus lowered his voice.

"It's Commander or Shepard to you.."

A long silence fell upon the four men, but the noise in the bar never stopped.

The loud bass of the music, drumming, and laughter from drunken people.

Damn, this is not a good night...

OoOoO oOoOo

It took a lot more effort than Garrus thought it would be to take the men back to their apartments. Rev was sober enough to find his apartment number. Frank was drunk enough to forget where he was when Garrus dropped him off at 'his' apartment. Yurak was more sober than either of them. Yurak was a Turian and he knew that getting drunk to be nauseous in the morning isn't a great way to be a 'good Turian'. So, Yurak had limited his drinking to two Turian beers. Garrus had limited himself to one brandy, knowing that the two humans wouldn't be sober enough to drive. Yurak didn't even seem sober enough to navigate the shuttle.

Garrus was proud of himself when he dropped all of them of, and managed to get to his own apartment at a decent time. It was 2200 and he'd planned to get up early tomorrow morning and finishing off some leftover reports that needed to be filed. While he was fixing some details on the progress report of the last couple months, he turned on one of the latest news vids. Emily Wong came up on the screen Garrus wasn't paying attention until the words "Commander Shepard." Wrung in his ear. He looked at the screen and skipped the vid back.

"Welcome back, I'm Emily Wong, giving you the latest news details of this month's topics.

Reports say that the Alliance SSV Normandy was attacked by an unknown enemy at 1400 hours, approximately 2:00pm, on June 26th. Reports also state that most of the crew abandoned ship, but some didn't make it out before it blew, and some sacrificed themselves to save their crew. An Alliance Spectre, savior of the Citadel , and Marine, gave her life to save her crew. Commander Shepard's death was confirmed early this morning when Alliance Navy found the remains of the ship on Alchera in the Amada system. More details coming soon."

Garrus' heart was racing and every part of his body was shaking with anger and fear.

Was the news vids making fools of everyone, or was this really happening. Was he drunk and hearing things? No, he couldn't be drunk. One brandy isn't enough to make him delusional. He slammed his fist against the coffee table, making it rattle and the objects sitting on it fall over or sway.

He put his head in his hands and sighed through his nose. This wasn't happening...

He transfered the vid to his memory unit in his laptop jack and stomped out of his apartment.

If anyone would know what happened it would be Chellick. Garrus also wanted to know why he didn't know about this until now. Why on a vid? Why couldn't someone just come to him and tell him themselves. His chest was burning with anxiety and anger. He'd never felt so enraged since his Father had made him get into C-sec, but this, this was more of anxiety and fear that he couldn't put his talon on.

Alright, time to go see Chellick...

OoOoO oOoOo

Garrus ate something to refresh his empty stomach and left his apartment. Good thing he wasn't drunk. otherwise he would've had to wait to go see Chellick 'till the morning when he was sober. He reached the offices and he stalked his way to Chellick's office. All of his co-workers already left they're shifts and the whole building was quiet. When he approached Chellick's office he heard voices. He heard Chellick's, then a strangely familiar voice started,

"Look, can I at least see him tonight? This is extremely important. Could you at least give me his apartment address?"

Garrus heard Chellick rumble and reply,

"No, you can wait 'till tomorrow when he comes into office. I'll let him know you stopped by."

Garrus tapped on the door and it slid open. Chellick's eyes looked like they'd widened and a chair whirled to present an old friend.

"Joker? Chellick? What the hell is going on?"

Garrus growled. Joker stood up quickly and winced as he sat on the desk.

"Garrus, I don't know how to put this- damn, this was easier to say in my head."

"Don't waste your breath, Joker. I already know."

Garrus snarled and pulled out his memory unit and slid it in Chellick's nearby terminal. He set it to project on the wall and Emily Wong started playing over again. Once it finished Joker rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Garrus yanked the MU out of the terminal and breathed through his nose.

"Why the hell?"

Garrus slammed a fist on Chellick's desk. Chellick's mandibles twitched.

"Garrus, hold your temper."

He said while standing to his feet.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why did you wait for so long before telling me what happened to her?

Damn it! I could have helped...Why didn't you send 'me' a distress call? I could have at least been informed!"

He said slamming his fists on a wall and let his head lean forward to touch the wall.

"Garrus, I was just about to-"

"Mr. Moreau, I have to get back to my duties. Can you go somewhere else and quarrel with him?"

Chellick was now looking between the two. Garrus backed up from the wall and glared at Chellick with a stone cold threat in his eyes. He stomped out of the room and Joker pushed off of the table and started limping for Garrus, yelling,

"Hey, wait up!"

Garrus allowed Joker to hop in his shuttle for a spin to talk.

"You probably want to know what happened..."

"Damn right I do! Joker, what the hell happened?"

Joker shook his head and rubbed his eyes. Garrus was losing patience, but he kept his cool and realized that this wasn't just hard on him, but hard on Joker too.

"Okay, just how many of you survived? Who attacked the ship? How did Ev- Shepard die?"

"Alenko got off fine and most of the crew... It was my fault she died, Garrus. It was all me! I- I-I'm so sorry. When we were attacked I refused to get out of the cockpit. She had to come get my lazy ass. She died saving me. I should have left when ordered to, but I messed up, Garrus. BIG time too. Shit."

He said as his voice started to tremble. Garrus' chest was shrinking. He'd never felt so hurt in his life. It wasn't Joker's fault that she died. He was still furious, but kept quiet.. The lights from the Citadel Wards was a disillusioning, but Garrus was successful in getting back to the Wards to drop Joker off.

Joker sighed when they landed.

"I'm sorry, Garrus. I'm acting like hell. Please, can you ever forgive me?"

Garrus looked at the crippled human sitting in the seat next to him with the shuttle door open.

"It's not your fault, Joker. Take care."

"You too, bud."

Joker slapped Garrus' shoulder plate and slunk out of the shuttle. When Garrus made it back to his apartment he was absolutely furious. All of this Bureaucratic crap was not helping. He had thrown the coffee table across the room and with a long ponder while sitting on the couch, he got an idea. Garrus scrolled through the most crime ridden planets in the universe. The first one that came up was Omega. He gathered his gear and packed his shuttle.

He needed to let his anger out, and he knew a way to do that...