Mass Effect 1. Shore leave

**This story is a sequel of sorts to my first multi-part fic Home and is set about two or three weeks after it. But almost all of this story should still make sense if you haven't read Home.**

**Although this story is rated T now, that will change in future. It contains spoilers for the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC, but is definitely set before the events of Arrival. Presume Hackett simply hasn't contacted Shepard yet with the mission. **

**Like I said at the start of Home, I really appreciate getting reviews on my stories. Feedback is very useful to me as I still want to improve as a writer. Thanks again to anyone who reviewed Home or one of my other stories; your comments really did encourage me to keep on with the writing!**

**I will try and see this story through to the end, but I'm busier than I was when I started Home so the updates may be a bit sporadic. However, I'll do my very best not to leave this story unfinished if people are enjoying it.**

**One last thing**_**,**_** most of what I write about turians and Palaven will be based on in-game canon and information taken from the Mass Effect wiki, obviously though I'm going to have to make some stuff up. Oh, and I still have no beta so please excuse any mistakes that have made it past my checks. **

**Right, so ends this long author's note, now onto the actual story….**

**Disclaimer: Mass Effect and everything related to it belongs to Bioware.**

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><p>Teagan Shepard glanced out of the tram window, taking in the unfamiliar sight of Vectis, one of Palaven's largest cities. According to what she'd read in the past, much of the turian homeworld was covered by arid deserts and tropical forests, but here stern looking buildings rose up out of the ground and nature seemed to have been beaten back long ago.<p>

After spending a few moments staring at the sprawling cityscape and the orange tinged sky above it, Teagan turned her head away from the window and looked towards her turian travelling companion. Her mate. He was currently sitting opposite her, facing her across a small table with his gloved hands clasped tightly together.

She smiled at him. "How long before we get to our stop now?"

"You asked me that about two and half minutes ago," Garrus said, leaning back into his seat, "For a starship captain, you're not much of a traveller are you?"

She shrugged. "I'm just looking forward to seeing where we're staying. I've slept in far more tents and crowded crew quarters than hotels during my lifetime, as well as that one lovely cave. This is a new experience for me."

Garrus looked out of the window, his eyes studying their surroundings just like she had done a few seconds before. "I'm not so used to the city as I used to be when I still lived here, but I guess fifteen minutes."

"Still? Do you want to try playing i-spy again to pass the time?"

"As much fun as learning how to play that human game was, no," he replied, in the bone-dry tone that she'd come to love.

Teagan smiled at him again, a little mischief now sparkling in her eyes. She'd taught him the game when they'd first got on the tram, laughing as he struggled to understand how something so boring had been passed down between humans throughout the centuries.

"Oh well," she said, "I'll have to find other ways to keep myself entertained."

He looked across at her. "We'll be there soon enough. Besides, it was your idea to get this tram instead of a cab when we left the ship. Didn't you say you wanted to see more of the city?"

"I do. I'm enjoying the view; the city is certainly very…impressive. I just hadn't realised how far we'd have to travel from where we left the ship."

The Normandy was currently resting in a spaceport on the other side of the city, officially out of action for a week so the crew could have some much needed shore leave while there was still a chance. Only a handful of people were still on board, with most of the other crewmembers now temporarily scattered across the galaxy. Before reaching Palaven, the ship had made several stops to locations including the Citadel and Illium because not everyone seemed particularly enamoured with the idea of spending their shore leave roasting in the planet's sweltering heat, while surrounded by millions of turians. Grunt had even been dropped down onto Tuchanka to pursue some of his breeding requests, although Teagan was trying not to think about that too much. She sincerely hoped he wouldn't want to share tales of his new conquests with her afterwards.

It was strange to think how far the Normandy now was from some of the members of its crew. Teagan couldn't help wondering if a couple of people might choose not to return to the ship, but she was trying to push that thought out of her mind because she had no desire to lose anyone. Even the Cerberus crewmembers had more than proven their loyalty and their worth during the fight against the collectors.

The few people who had chosen to come as far as Palaven included Joker, who was keeping EDI company, and several others who were interested in seeing where the proud and militaristic turian race originated from.

The main reason Teagan had brought the Normandy, and herself, to the planet, however, was because Garrus had decided to visit his home city and his family for the first time in years.

Her tagging along with him during the trip just seemed to make sense to both of them. Even before they had become far more than friends, they had never been found any great distance from each other, regardless of whether they were on the ship or off. Admittedly, this wasn't how Teagan had expected to spend her first shore leave in more than a year, but she'd gotten well used to nothing ever going quite to plan for her.

As soon as the Normandy had landed, she'd left the ship with him and they'd jumped onto the cross-city tram. So far the journey had been pleasant enough, if slightly longer than she expected. She wasn't sure exactly how many miles they'd already covered as the tram made its way smoothly through the city, but the scenery outside seemed to be changing fairly quickly.

Teagan stole another look out the window and saw more densely-packed buildings, lined up like rows and rows of well-armoured soldiers. She wondered just how many hours turian labourers had put into constructing them.

"Hey, Garrus," she said and he lifted his eyes up from the part of the table he'd been staring at, "Where are we now? The buildings are very regal and, uh, tall."

"Looks like the financial district," he replied, "There's probably a lot more volus than turians around here."

"Oh, really? Those guys are pretty short; you'd think they wouldn't need such tall buildings. It must all be for show, a bit of pomp and grandeur to compensate for what they lack in height, and in other…areas."

"You might be onto something there," he said, some amusement creeping into his voice, "This wasn't a part of the city I ever had much time for though. Too many money-grabbing bastards for my liking."

"I can imagine." She grinned at him. "I'm so glad I have you to act as my unofficial tour guide of the turian homeworld."

He smiled back. "Well it makes a change from my usual work, following you around, sniping mercs and watching your six."

As Garrus finished speaking a loud sigh came from somewhere behind where Teagan was sitting, but she tried to ignore it.

They were currently sharing the tram carriage with about twenty or so other turians. Some were dressed like they were on their way to work, but there were also a few couples on board, along with one family made up of a male and female turian and their two adorable little children who didn't have any facial markings yet. To their credit, most of the passengers were treating the strange pairing of a human and a turian travelling together as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. However, a few others were showing more interest in them than was strictly polite.

One elderly turian couple in particular had given Teagan and Garrus a long and bemused look when they'd climbed on board. Teagan had hoped that would be the end of it, but the sigh had come from their general direction and it seemed like their bemusement was beginning to turn into irritation.

She wanted to believe they were just objecting to their peace and quiet being disturbed, albeit not in the most polite way. However, it wasn't like she was being particularly loud and Garrus was barely talking most of the time.

Trying to be as discreet as possible, Teagan glanced towards where the couple were huddled together in one corner of the carriage. Unfortunately, the female turian returned her gaze straight away, looking back at her with a hard glare on her old, wizened face. She had similar, though not identical, clan markings to Garrus, but while Teagan loved how they looked on him, something about the way the lines sat on this woman's face made her seem almost threatening.

Teagan swiftly turned away from her to face Garrus again. However, he didn't look back at her, seeming to have become lost almost entirely in his own thoughts.

From the moment they'd left the Normandy together, it had been obvious that he was feeling a little tense, something which became even more pronounced whenever the two of them weren't talking or joking with each other. Teagan had been trying her best to cheer him up over the last hour or so, especially since he'd often done the same thing for her in the past. If the turian couple didn't like the noise they were making then screw them.

"Hey, big guy," she said, "You still okay over there?"

"Oh…yeah," he said slowly, "I'm just…thinking about this trip. About seeing Solana and my mother again."

"Well, I hope thoughts aren't getting too dark in your pretty head. You don't really seem like yourself today."

Garrus finally looked towards her. "I'm alright."

She saw how tightly he was still grasping his hands together so she reached out and firmly took his right hand in hers, clumsily fitting her five fingers in-between his three talons. She wanted to offer him some comfort even though she couldn't really understand how he was feeling since she'd lost her own parents and sister so long ago.

She'd been so shocked when she'd first realised just how messed up his family situation had become. She wished he'd come to her and told her, but instead she'd found out poking around in the shadow broker's files like some kind of prying, nefarious gossip. Feeling sick to her stomach, she'd stood there in front of the console and tried to take it all in. His mother was ill, his sister resented him for not being there to help, and he hadn't told her any of it. Instead, he'd said nothing while Teagan had gone on and on, and then on some more, about her own issues.

Once she'd got back to the ship, after saying a rushed and barely comprehensible goodbye to Liara, she'd gone right to the main battery to talk to him. She'd just come straight out with what she'd discovered and, by some miracle, they'd managed to discuss things properly without too much skin crawling awkwardness on either side. In the end, it had been her who had first suggested that he use the upcoming week's shore leave to visit his mother and sister. A day later he'd finally said that he thought it was a good idea and then asked her to accompany him. He'd sounded like he genuinely wanted her to come and wasn't just suggesting it because he thought he had to. Hopefully she'd read him right.

Teagan tightened her grip on his hand further, pressing her fingertips into the rough material of his glove. "You know, Garrus," she said, "You and your family have a lot to get caught up on during this week and that's probably not going to be easy. I want you to know that you don't have to tell them we're together or even that I'm here on Palaven with you if it's going to make things more awkward for you. I'm here to help, not to complicate everything."

He hesitated for a couple of seconds before responding. "I already told Solana I've been serving with you again when I said I was coming to visit, although I avoided too many specifics about our mission. She may as well know about us. And my mother too, if she's well enough."

"Asking this is awkward, but did you tell Solana about your scars?"

"I may have downplayed them just a little."

"Garrus," Teagan said, trying not to sound too concerned, "That might not have been such a good idea. I mean, she'll notice them as soon as she sees you anyway and so will your mother."

"I just…didn't want her to worry too much, I never do. It will be easier to explain things face to face. The two of them don't need to know everything about what happened on Omega or about our mission now, but…I want them to know about you. I'd like you to meet both of them."

"You're sure?"

"I think so."

Teagan lapsed into silence for a moment as she thought about what it would be like to have in-laws for the first time in her life. Well, not in-laws exactly, but she couldn't think of a better term for it. She'd had no family for years, and, honestly, felt vaguely hysterical at the thought of meeting either Garrus' mother or sister, but this simply wasn't about her. If Garrus wanted her to meet them, then she would. She'd wear something nicer than usual and try to respect proper turian etiquette, whatever the hell that happened to be.

"You're okay with that, right?" Garrus asked.

She smiled nervously and nodded. "If the right moment comes, then I'd like to meet them too."

"Good. I'm sure my mom will like you. Solana can be…difficult sometimes but I think you're pretty great so hopefully she will too."

Teagan smiled, but then her brow furrowed as an uncomfortable thought began to form in her head. "What will your father think if he finds out about us?"

"I told you already that he's not going to be a factor in this," Garrus said quickly, sounding like he wasn't particularly keen to discuss this topic at any length. "He's lived on the Citadel ever since he started to work for C-Sec and he rarely sets foot on Palaven, even to bother visiting my mom and Solana_._ He's gotten quite isolated from rest of the family over the years. Sol still keeps in touch with him, but I haven't spoken to him since I left C-Sec the second time around."

"He wouldn't approve of you being with me though, would he?"

"I…don't know," he said hesitantly, then more confidently, he added, "I don't really care, we won't see him. It's probably for the best. I have you to lecture me now instead of him."

"I don't lecture you. I just…give helpful advice here and there."

He raised a brow ridge. "Uh-huh."

"And I only give the advice because I care about you."

"I suppose that's your excuse for reading the Shadow Broker's dossier on me as well?"

"No. I know I shouldn't have read any of it. I just couldn't help myself. I was worried about how much information he had on you and…"

"I know, I know. I was only joking." He sounded slightly worried that he'd offended her, but he hadn't really. She'd got used to his merciless teasing long ago. "I'm glad you're here with me now."

"That's good to hear." She caught his eye. "But, Garrus, why didn't you tell me about all of this sooner? Then I wouldn't have read any of it poking around behind your back. "

"I didn't want to burden you…I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. It's just, I…I feel terrible for how much I've been leaning on you lately. I mean, I even dragged you to Mindoir with me, I…"

Garrus didn't let her get any further, "I've always said I'll be there whenever you need me. Anyway, we were only on Mindoir for a couple of hours. You're going to be on Palaven with me for a whole week while I try to sort things out. I hope you don't end up miserable for seven days."

"I want to be here."

Despite what she'd just said, Teagan could still see something like worry lurking in his eyes. She leant forward across the table and placed her free hand on the side of his face. "I want to be here, Garrus," she repeated, making sure he met her eyes, "Okay?"

"Yeah," he replied.

She smiled at him as she sat back down in her seat, but as she did so, she could feel the eyes of the old turian couple on her body once more. God, she was getting fed up with this.

"You know, Garrus," she said, lowering her voice slightly, while still keeping it loud enough so they could probably hear her if they were trying to listen in, "I don't think some people in here like seeing us together."

He glanced around him. "You might be right, but it's their problem not ours. Is it bothering you?"

"Not now."

She let the two words hang in the air for a second and then got up and sat beside Garrus. He didn't have any time to react to her presence before she pulled his face towards hers.

"I guess they probably wouldn't like it if I did this either," she whispered, leaning in to kiss him on one of his mandibles.

"Probably not," he said as she pulled away, "But it honestly didn't bother me. In fact", he paused to wrap his arms around her, "You can feel free to do that anytime you like."

"I'll have to remember that."

Teagan leant her body against his and decided not to bother getting back up again. She'd only sat opposite him when they'd boarded the tram to try not to draw too much attention to the fact that they were together, but the ploy clearly hadn't worked and she was tired of being separated from him by a bloody table.

When it became clear that she was staying put beside Garrus, the old turian couple seemed to decide that merely glaring at her wasn't enough anymore. They left their seats, making as much noise as possible, and started to head towards the carriage exit. Teagan hoped that it was somehow just a coincidence. Sadly though, the one last disgusted look she got shot as they walked up the aisle proved it wasn't. She wasn't sure if Garrus had noticed what was happening or not, but he pulled her much closer to him as the couple passed by where they were sitting and then started to stroke her hair.

Teagan's eyes followed the two turians' retreating backs for a few seconds, before she turned her head away from them and curled up like a cat beside Garrus. She focused on enjoying the feel of his talons running through her hair and occasionally scratching her scalp, rather than giving into the anger that was bubbling up inside her chest.

She let out a soft sigh. It always pleased her no end how much Garrus genuinely seemed to like her hair, despite it being a distinctly human feature.

"Tell me more about your family, Garrus," she said after a moment.

His talons stopped moving. "Like…what, Teagan?"

"Anything. I don't feel like you've told me that much about either of them yet." She paused. "For starters, what does Solana do?

"She works as an administrator. I don't think she enjoys it much, but she keeps at it anyway."

"And your mother? I mean before she became ill."

"Oh…well, she was a high-ranking government official on Palaven for years. When I was growing up, she was always working on some grand project to try and make people's lives better here. It meant long hours and a lot of sleepless nights but she was never the type of person to give up."

"Sounds like someone I know."

Garrus made a strange huffing noise in his throat that was not quite a laugh. "I guess I maybe take after her a little."

"More than a little," she replied.

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><p>Teagan didn't get much more out of him about his family before they were at their stop and had to head for the bustling streets of the city again. As they exited the air-conditioned tram station, she felt a blast of the almost stiflingly warm air hit her face.<p>

She gasped and stopped in her tracks. "Is it always _this_ hot here?"

"As far as I can remember, yeah," Garrus said, "But the deserts around Vectis are even hotter. The environment is regulated to a certain extent in this city to keep the temperature slightly lower and to stop the radiation reaching dangerous levels for non-turians like you. You'd probably need to wear some kind protective clothing if we went too far outside the city limits."

Teagan felt strangely hemmed in all of sudden. "Is Vectis completely surrounded by desert?" she asked.

"Pretty much. There's a stretch of coastline not too far away from here though. My mom sometimes used to take me there with Solana when we were both kids, just to give us a break from the city for a few hours. It was…nice. That's what Virmire reminded me of. The coast is a lot more picturesque than this city, but I guess you might not be able to take the heat there either."

"It's bad enough here." She pulled a face. "I'm getting…sticky."

His mandibles flared in amusement. "Poor little human."

"Hey! It's not my fault I didn't evolve to be specially adapted to these conditions like you did."

"True, but if you stop complaining, we'll be off the street in no time and back indoors where it's not so hot."

"Good point," she said and they both started to move forward again.

Walking through the city by Garrus' side, Teagan couldn't stop herself from occasionally gawking at her surroundings, just like any other tourist from another world would do. The street they were on was wide, but tall buildings ran down both sides. Most of them reached up far above Teagan's head, their upper windows reflecting the colour of the burnt looking sky so she couldn't see in through the glass. Down at ground level, there were turians all around her_, _striding off in every direction_._ Most of them, whether male or female, stood at least two or three inches taller than her.

Teagan felt small, the same way as she had done the first time she'd set foot on the Citadel and come face to face with all the grandeur, all the different species gathered together. After growing up on a small farming colony, it was hard not to find the sheer size of places like Vectis intimidating at first.

But she'd soon got used to the Citadel, and she would get used to this metropolis too. Even when they passed through a busy, stuffy market place, she kept her head up and continued striding down the street with Garrus.

Eventually, they turned off the main roads and into a series of smaller side streets. They wound their way through them until they stopped in front of a five story building with 'hotel' inscribed in turian over the front door.

Teagan recognised the front of the building from the glossy photographs she'd looked at on the extranet. She'd investigated a few different hotels with Garrus, but in the end they'd chosen this one because it was close to his family's home, quiet, and had a good reputation.

It didn't seem as if it was the type of place where she'd be recognised as the 'great' Commander Shepard. Not that she thought that was particularly likely anywhere on Palaven. Many turians found it hard to tell humans apart at the best of times and with her brown hair, brown eyes and pale skin, she was hardly the most distinctive looking example of her species.

A moment later, they walked into the hotel and found themselves in a sparsely furnished lobby, with marble flooring and stone pillars running up the walls. A male turian wearing a dark blue uniform was standing behind a long, carved stone desk on one side of the room, watching the two of them with slightly narrowed eyes.

He didn't exactly have a welcoming expression on his face, but the air was slightly cooler in here than outside so there was no way in hell Teagan was leaving.

She walked over to the desk with Garrus by her side.

"May I help the two of you?" the turian receptionist asked as they drew up in front of him.

"Uh, yeah," Garrus replied, "I reserved a room for two, under Vakarian."

Hearing him say the room was booked under his name sent a small thrill running through Teagan's body. She'd never got far enough into a relationship to stay in a hotel with a guy before, let alone somewhere as nice as this.

She opened her mouth to joke with Garrus about this being a momentous occasion for her, but the receptionist spoke before she could. "The room is for you and this…human?"

"Yes. That would be why she's standing here beside me."

"Right." He turned towards her. "What's your name then, mam? I need it for the hotel records."

She hesitated for a moment before answering, but, really, what were the chances of someone on Palaven knowing her full name?

"It's Shepard. Teagan Shepard," she said in the end, deliberately leaving off her military rank.

He tapped at the console again. "And the two of you meant to book a room with a double bed rather than one with two singles?"

"Yes," Garrus replied in a slightly strained voice. He looked tense again, with his mandibles clamped to his face. "Why are you asking?"

"I thought I should check, sir, in case there had been some kind of administrative error. But there's no need to worry, this hotel is very open minded and supports all sorts of life choices." He paused as if he was expecting some sort of response to what he'd just said, but when neither Teagan nor Garrus spoke, he kept talking, "Your luggage has already arrived from your ship and should be in your room. I'll just get your card key now."

He rustled around behind the desk for a moment and then placed it in front of them. "You're staying on the first floor. Would you like me to find someone to show you to the room? I'd take you there myself, but I'm busy."

Teagan looked around her, there was no one else apart from them in the lobby, and now the turian had checked them in, his arms were resting idly by his sides.

Garrus picked up the card key. "No, no, I'm sure we can find our own way to the room. We wouldn't want to trouble any of you since the hotel is so full of people today."

With that, he walked away from the desk, pulling Teagan lightly by the arm with him. Together, they started to head towards the stairs.

"What a friendly guy," Garrus muttered, as soon as they were out of the receptionist's earshot.

"Oh yeah," Teagan said, "It's great to know he's not judging us, isn't it?"

"Definitely. I can't remember the last time I felt so welcome."

She laughed, feeling considerably more relaxed than she had done a moment ago. She decided to put what had just happened right to the back of her mind, along with the incident on the tram.

They reached the first floor a few seconds later and then made their way down the brightly lit corridor until they found the correct room number written in gold on one of the doors.

Once inside, they both paused to take a long look at their new surroundings. Their room was quite simply decorated like the rest of the hotel, but larger than the captain's cabin on the Normandy and far less dull. The surfaces and the floor were covered in marble, which gleamed under the overhead lights, and the curtains and throws were all dyed in rich shades of purple and blue. A large bed, however, was the main focus of the room, along with a pair of glass double doors which led out onto a balcony.

"At least the room is nice," Teagan said, "Even if the service leaves something to be desired."

She walked towards the balcony and looked through the glass at the fairly quiet street below. A few pedestrians were milling about outside a row of small, but well-presented restaurants and shops.

Garrus walked up behind her. "I'm glad we're here. Together."

"Me too."

He rested his arm lightly around her waist and pulled her against him. "Do you think the Illusive Man has realised your using Cerberus funds to pay for this room and finance everyone's shore leave yet?"

"I don't know. Maybe I shouldn't have dipped into the money, but I wanted to make sure everyone got the break they deserve, and it's not like the Illusive Man has tried to cut us off. Well, not yet anyway. He's probably still hoping I'll come round to Cerberus' way of thinking."

"I presume there's not much of chance of that?"

"Hell, no." She paused for a moment. "But I don't want to talk about Cerberus or the reapers or anything else to do with our mission now. I know we've got a lot to sort out during this trip and this day hasn't gone brilliantly so far, but right now we're alone, in a hotel and it's still early evening. There's no crew, no work to do, just us. Me and you. So what do you want to do, big guy?"

She had a few of her own ideas of course, but he hadn't seemed quite himself today so she thought it was best to leave it up to him.

In the end, he didn't answer her, preferring instead to lift her up with the same strong arms that sometimes pulled her into cover on the battlefield. Teagan laughed as he started to walk them both straight towards the bed, seemingly without having to put any effort into it. She forgot just how strong he was until he did something like that, but she certainly didn't mind him occasionally seizing the initiative. It wasn't often that someone other than her took control of things.

Upon reaching the bed, he dropped her down onto the mattress and then leant over her, rumpling and creasing the perfectly smooth sheets. Not that he seemed to care much about that. Teagan smiled as he pressed his forehead against hers while one of his hands searched for the fastenings on her shirt.

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><p><strong>I always feel incredibly nervous about posting a new story so I hope you enjoyed reading this.<strong>

**I don't know for sure when it will update because I'm going on holiday to Marseille for a few days, but I'm looking forward to writing the next chapter – some of it will be from Garrus' perspective and it's been so long since I've been inside his head. **

**Til then…**

**Note: Vectis is actually the Roman name for the Isle of Wight in the UK. I used it in this purely because I love the sound of the word and I thought it sounded very turian!**


	2. Awakening

**Thanks to anyone who read the first chapter of this fic last month and to anyone who's reading this now :)**

**It was lovely to get such a positive response to the start of the story. I really didn't expect it.**

**I think I should say here that the first half of this new chapter is to explain Garrus' view on his relationship with Shepard, as well as to move the plot forward slightly. The whole way through Home, I only wrote from Teagan's perspective so I'm basically trying to rebalance that.**

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><p>The early morning light streamed into the hotel room and fell over the bed where Garrus and Teagan lay curled together under the sheets. Both awake for some time, they had yet to make any attempt to get up and face the new day. Garrus, for his part, simply didn't feel much like separating himself from Teagan's soft body.<p>

He had never expected to end up here with her, sharing a room, a bed, in a hotel on his home planet. A year ago, if someone had suggested that Commander Shepard would come back from the dead and then decide that she wanted to be with him, he would have personally paid for them to get their head examined.

Sometimes he still found it hard to believe that she was his mate, as if all the charged looks they'd shared, all their intimate conversations, all the nights they'd spent together were simply figments of his own desperate imagination. He was far more used to rockets and bullets coming his way rather than anything good after all.

And yet, undeniably, there she was right at that moment, lying beside him and showing no sign of wanting to be anywhere else. Her dark eyes were half-open and she was smiling, albeit in a vague sort of way.

After a while, she started to run one of her hands along his chest, a look of concentration forming on her face as her small fingers sought out the soft patches of skin hiding in between his plating. Garrus lay still, wondering what she was thinking until she finally cleared it up for him a few minutes later.

"We're so different."

"Ah, yeah, I guess we are." Honestly, he wasn't sure where this was going. She could be a real rambler sometimes when it came to talking about their relationship.

"I mean this shouldn't work, should it?" she murmured softly, "We come from planets that are thousands of light years away from each other and parts of Palaven could make me ill. We don't speak the same language. But we fit together so well. I mean, not just physically, but in every sense." She paused for a moment, her brow slowly furrowing. "Have you thought much about any of this stuff, Garrus? Does it ever, uh, bother you that we're so different?"

"Teagan," he said, her first name just rolling off his tongue after weeks of calling her by it. The first time he'd used it may have been a complete disaster, but he'd done his best to banish that memory from his mind. "Given how we spent yesterday evening, that seems like a rather odd question."

He watched her cheeks go red. He always found it amusing when that happened, though it seemed to annoy the hell out of her. It was such a strange biological reaction. Turians themselves couldn't blush; embarrassment was usually signalled by their mandibles beginning to flare uncontrollably.

Teagan struggled to regain her composure. "I didn't mean it like that exactly…it's just, well, you told me once you didn't have a human fetish."

He turned her head towards his so he could see her face, her eyes, properly. "I don't, but I want you. It doesn't matter to me if you're squishier and furrier than a turian woman."

As he spoke, he started to smooth down her messy hair, enjoying the feel of it under his talons. It was sticking up everywhere, tangled in strange shaped knots, since she hadn't brushed it yet that morning.

Distracted, she closed her eyes for a moment, but another question still formed on her lips, "You…you weren't always attracted to me though, were you?"

It was true, perhaps, that when they'd first met on the Citadel he hadn't really looked at her any differently than the hundreds of other humans he'd come across. But that was years ago now. On the SR2, his feelings had begun to change until he was dreaming about her and thinking about how her body would move in other circumstances, outside of battle, _way_ more often than he probably should have been if he really only saw her as a friend and fellow comrade in arms.

"Not exactly," he said, the early morning haze he'd been in clearing some more as he tried to work out exactly what all of this was about. "I always liked and respected you, but when you recruited me again, things were…different somehow. You always seemed to be there, hanging around me, and it felt right. I started to find it hard not to think about you. Now you've got me good."

He glanced passed her face, towards the window. "Why all the questions so early in the morning anyway? It's only just light outside."

"I'm being neurotic, aren't I?"

"Maybe a little."

"Sorry, Garrus, you probably don't need this right now but I…I guess the looks we got on the tram yesterday and the way that idiot receptionist treated us are playing are on my mind a little. I've never realised before just how unusual our relationship is. To me, it doesn't seem strange at all so I keep forgetting that people on the outside might see things differently."

"Oh…"

Of course that's what she was thinking about. He'd noticed their reactions too, how could he not have? But as long as Teagan stayed by his side it was hard for him to give much of a damn about what strangers thought about their relationship. It was none of their business.

His family's reaction to the two of them being together gave him more cause for concern, however. Their opinions actually mattered to him. He wasn't sure if his mother would even be well enough to be told and Solana, well, Solana always spoke her mind, no matter what the subject at hand was. He was not particularly looking forward to trying to broach the subject with either of them, and he didn't even want to start imagining what his father might say.

With the exception of his father, however, he did want his family to know. Teagan was too important to him for him to try to hide how he felt about her. He just hoped they would both understand. Really though, there was no point worrying about any of that now. He could always panic about it all later.

"Well," he continued, "All that matters is whether this is working for us." He did his best to smile. "Besides, I've learnt to appreciate human physiology in a way I definitely didn't before, thanks to you."

Admittedly, he'd been a little shocked when he'd first seen her naked all those weeks ago. She was so different from him, with her smooth skin, soft curves, hair and those two wobbly mounds on her chest. But it hadn't changed anything; he'd still wanted her so badly. By the time she'd let him pin her down on the bed, he'd been almost aching with desire. Now he knew her body so well. Nothing about her was alien to him anymore and he'd learnt exactly how to please her and make her cry out in the darkness of her quarters.

For now at least, it felt like she belonged to him.

Garrus sat up and reached out for her, pulling her securely into his lap so that her back was resting against his chest. Despite what he'd just said, she still looked troubled, the same way she had done on the tram the day before.

Trying to sooth her, he started to stroke her hair again. "You know how much I like your hair for one thing," he said. She looked up at him, clearly pleased so he did his best to continue, "I also like your eyes and your, ah, lips and all those strange human things you can do with them." He ran a single talon across her mouth and she smiled. "Your skin is also very…soft and, uh, smooth and, umm…"

Unfortunately, he couldn't quite decide what to say next. Why, _why_, had he thought it would be a good idea to attempt to explain all of this just a few seconds ago? He'd placed himself on very dangerous ground_, _one wrong turn and he could praise something he really shouldn't or say something terribly offensive to a human. At least with turian women he'd known what the hell he was supposed to like.

In the end he decided it was best to play it safe and try to bring this whole thing to a quick end before he said something more stupid than usual. "And I like the rest of you too. I've already told you how wonderfully supportive I think your waist is." He stopped dead and shook his head at his own lame joke. "I'm not explaining this well, am I?"

"Don't worry, Garrus," she replied in a soft voice, "You're doing fine. Better than fine."

"That's a relief," he murmured, "I was trying my best not to put my hand in my mouth."

"It's foot, big guy. But you really did great." He watched as she laughed and a wide smile spread across her face, showing those small, strange white teeth." I like everything about you too, Garrus, hard plates and all."

He could tell from the way she was looking at him that she meant it. She really did seem to find him attractive and it was more of a relief to him than he would ever admit out loud to her or anyone else. He'd never been that vain, but there was no denying that gunship injuries were not a great look on anyone.

"Good," he said, "I think it's safe to say that not many non-krogan women would now."

She frowned at his comment. "Would it matter to you if I still had scars all over my body like I did when I first recruited you?"

He looked at her smooth, pale skin and then ran his talons down a part of her arm that had, until recently, been marred by a long orange tear. He was glad for her sake that all her scars had healed because he could tell they had bothered her, reminding her of her own mortality every single time she saw one of them. But even if she was still covered in scars from head to toe, he knew it could never make any difference to how he felt about her.

"No," he said simply.

"Well your scars have never bothered me either. They're not what I see when I look at you." Her tone became more playful again. "Anyway, you know you're the hottest guy on the Normandy. None of the other crewmen can compete with you, especially since only you have that voice."

"You like my voice?" He tried not to sound too ridiculously pleased.

"Of course. Haven't you heard it? Hell, you could probably read one of Miranda's reports or the operation manual for your console to me and I'd still turn to goo."

"Hmmm. That's good to know," he mumbled directly in her ear and then chuckled when she pushed him back off her.

"That's a dirty trick, Garrus. You're lucky I like you so damn much. You know, I never thought I'd want anyone enough to let them get this close to me and take me to their home town."

"When you put it like that, I feel kind of honoured." He made it sound as if he was joking, but the truth was he actually did. She could have chosen to be with anyone on the Normandy, there was no denying that_. _He'd seen the looks some of the crew gave her, heard Thane call her by that strange pet name, 'Siha', but she'd picked him.

She was laughing again. "Personally I think I should give you a medal for somehow getting through all of my bullshit."

"That really won't be necessary, Teagan." He scratched her head affectionately. "Getting to be with you is reward enough."

"Ha! Well, as long as you're sure."

"I am," he said. He wrapped his arms around her and they both fell silent. She often kissed the side of his face to show affection in these kind of circumstances, but he couldn't really do that. Instead he licked her cheek and then watched as she sighed and relaxed her body against his.

He knew without a doubt that he'd stay with her for as long as she needed him. He hoped it would be for years, rather than months because everything else in his life was such a mess, but this…this seemed to be working. The thought of her bolting from him like she had done for a few days after they returned from the collector base hurt like hell, there was no other way to put it.

At least they'd come this far, still together, still happy, after a few weeks_._ If things kept going so well, maybe she really wouldn't ever want to leave him again.

* * *

><p>They made it downstairs for breakfast an hour later, both having rather reluctantly risen out of bed and dressed. The dining room was already populated by around ten other guests who were chattering quietly with each other as they sat around small square tables. At one end of the room, a buffet had been laid out across a couple of long counters.<p>

The hotel boasted about serving gourmet turian cuisine on its extranet site, but to Teagan's untrained eye the dextro dishes on offer that morning looked more like an unappetising and completely inedible assortment of oddly coloured slices of meat, pastes and grains. Thankfully though, one small section of the counter had been reserved for human and asari food.

Her stomach rumbled when she noticed the pile of bacon glistening in one container. "God I'm so hungry," she said.

Garrus smirked. "Aren't you always?"

"Well, yes, but I'm especially hungry right now. I haven't had any food for hours and hours."

"Guess you better get to eating then. Otherwise you might begin to waste away on me."

"Guess so."

She strode over to the counters with the same determination she usually displayed when stalking a deadly enemy. By the time she'd finished piling her plate up with food, Garrus had already settled himself at one of the tables and was waiting patiently for her to arrive before he started eating. As she sat down on the polished wooden chair opposite him, he laughed.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"I just can't believe we're in a hotel on the turian homeworld and you still have more food on your plate than me."

"That's two jokes you've made about my eating habits in less than five minutes. I'd stop now, Garrus, unless you want a pile of levo food poured over your pretty head."

"Fair enough," he said and then started to eat, apparently deciding that making another wisecrack wasn't quite worth the risk.

Teagan followed his lead, feeling ridiculously happy as she munched on a piece of bacon, simply because she was getting to share breakfast with him like this. She could imagine for a moment that they were like any other couple staying in the hotel and forget that they spent most of their days fighting against near impossible odds on Godforsaken rocks scattered throughout the galaxy.

True, the two of them eating together wasn't anything unusual in itself anymore, but they were usually sitting in the Normandy's mess hall surrounded by noisy crewmen.

Leaning back in her chair, she began to watch as Garrus continued to shove strange food into his mouth. She had no major dextro allergy to the best of her knowledge, but as of yet she'd never been tempted to taste any of his meals.

Once on the Normandy, he'd wasted a full half hour trying to explain the finer points of turian cuisine to her while he picked at the horrible slug-like creature on his plate and she did her best not to pull a face. If it was possible, his breakfast today looked even more disgusting.

Teagan couldn't stop herself from grinning as he took another bite of some dark meat that was so tough she doubted human teeth would be able to tear through it. A couple of seconds later, however, the smile faded from her face. Behind Garrus' head, she'd noticed the turian receptionist from the day before leaning down to talk to one of the other guests in the dining room. As he moved towards the exit, he glanced their way. Admittedly, she couldn't quite read the strange expression on his face, but it certainly wasn't friendly.

Putting her fork back down on her plate, she opened her mouth to speak to Garrus, but then thought better of it. It just wouldn't be fair of her to bring up all of this bullshit again.

Unfortunately, it seemed he'd already noticed her discomfort. He touched her hand lightly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, big guy."

"You're still a completely terrible liar. What is it, Teagan?

"We can talk about it later."

"Tell me."

"Alright…" She hesitated for a moment, trying to pick her words carefully. "I don't want to sound like I'm stuck in a loop by bringing this all up again, but I guess I've just been wondering, why do some turians not seem to like seeing us together? I thought turians were allowed to do whatever they want in their personal lives so long as they still fulfil their duties as citizens of the Hierarchy. Or something like that anyway. I'm a little confused."

"Well you're basically right." He sighed. "But the First Contact War is still fresh in a lot of people's minds and there are…other issues. Some turians think that interspecies relationships are a bad idea because they can lead to the turian in the relationship having divided loyalty and not being as committed to the Hierarchy as they should be."

He cleared his throat and suddenly looked even more uncomfortable. Teagan could tell that he thought she wasn't going to like what he was about to say. "And, uh, interspecies couples like me and you aren't going to be able to produce little turians to serve the Hierarchy when they come of age."

"Oh." The word came out almost like a squeak from her mouth. She had never thought about that before, not for a second. Of course, she still doubted that she'd live long enough to even contemplate starting a family most days, but for the first time it occurred to her that even if somehow, against all the odds, both of them survived the war with the reapers and stayed together then they would never be able to make children together anyway. Well, not without messing about with genetics and breaking a host of galactic laws, neither of which she would ever be remotely inclined to do.

"Look," Garrus said, "None of this stuff bothers me and, honestly, most turians probably are okay with interspecies relationships and think that people should be free to have them. But some feel….differently"

Seemingly unsure of whether to continue or not, he hesitated for another moment before speaking again, "Turians can, in some circumstances, call judicial interventions if they think a relative or co-worker is doing something that affects their ability to fulfil their duties. In rare cases, they can lose their citizenship or be forced to do hard labour. I doubt that's ever happened because someone's entered into an interspecies relationship though."

Teagan's eyes widened. "Being with me won't cause you problems, will it?" she asked. "What if your family objects and…"

He shook his head. "They wouldn't do that to me. My father didn't try anything after I left C-Sec for second time and he probably had more reason to want to bring me back into line then."

"So you're still a full turian citizen?"

"Yeah. C-Sec never came after me when I quit either. Anyway, I like to think the fact that I helped to save the galaxy again would get me off the hook for leaving."

"That is a pretty good defence."

"Yeah, it's not like I was backpacking through the galaxy and trying to find myself."

"No. You were mostly getting shot at."

"True."

They smiled at each other. Usually, they would have kept joking together for far longer, but, oddly, they both seemed to have run out of steam. After a moment, they looked down at their plates and started eating again. For some reason, the silence that hovered over them while they did so wasn't particularly comfortable.

"I'm sorry all of this is getting to you," Garrus said eventually, "I wasn't sure what it would be like."

Teagan looked up at him, wondering what had prompted him to say that, until she realised she'd been stabbing a piece of bacon with her fork. She set her cutlery down. "No, Garrus, I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't be letting it piss me off. Hell, I'm used to people shooting at me on a daily basis, but I, ugh…I don't know what's wrong with me today. How come none of this seems to bother you?"

"You're not used to turians disapproving of you like this. I am. At C-Sec, at home."

A sad smile formed on her face because she realised he might be right. "Maybe that's it, although Councillor Sparatus doesn't seem to like me much."

"I think he hates everyone so I wouldn't take it personally."

Teagan tried to laugh, but it came out slightly forced. "Teagan," Garrus said, "If it gets too much for you…"

She cut him off as quickly as she could. "No, no. I'm alright. I'm sure I'll get used to it. We're probably going to get some negative reactions wherever we go. I can't see every human approving of this relationship for one thing, not for some vaguely thought out reason though; humans just seem to like finding excuses to hate each other."

She could still remember how confused she'd felt when she'd first started to study Earth history in high school on Mindoir and had realised what humans were really like. She'd learnt about the wars, the slavery, all the pointless death and suffering, brother killing brother for money, land, whatever, while sitting behind a wooden desk in a bright classroom.

Eventually her teacher had moved on to cover wider galactic history and it had turned out to be no less messy. Teagan had ended up feeling like Mindoir was a safe haven, separate from the complete madness of the rest of the universe. Or at least she had done until the batarians came and raided the colony, killing everyone she cared about. After that she'd realised nowhere was ever really safe.

"I've never understood why things have to be this way," she said, thinking out loud, more than talking to Garrus. "Maybe that makes me a naïve idiot, as well as a complete hypocrite since I've become part of it. I mean I'm a soldier, I kill people. I try to make good decisions, but I don't know half the time. I just wish humans, turians, batarians, whatever, could just get along and stop trying to shoot each other all the time. I'd be out of a job but that's a trade-off I'd be all too happy to make."

She stopped ranting. "And this conversation is getting way too deep for so early in the day. God, I just need to shut up and relax."

Garrus smiled. "You can keep talking if you want. I enjoy your lectures far more than my father's. You certainly get more animated and you don't threaten to lock me in my room at the end."

"Well, this one's over. I think I've bent your ear for long enough." She paused, realising that phrase probably wouldn't make much, if any, sense to a turian. "I mean I've been talking too much and not eating enough. I'm going to get some more food, this stuff's gone cold."

Garrus refrained from making any comment as she leapt up from her seat, plate in hand. When she returned to him a few minutes later, he'd finished eating and was sitting with his hands resting on the dark blue tablecloth.

Unsure of what to say next, Teagan remained silent for a while, moving her food around with her fork but not putting much of it into her mouth. She started to pile it all in the centre of her plate, carving a strange sculpture out of the scrambled egg and then decorating it around the edges with pieces of sausage and bacon.

"So…" she said once she was finished making a complete mess, "Are you still planning to see Solana today, Garrus?" She couldn't help thinking she was starting another awkward conversation between the two of them, but this was actually something they needed to discuss, unlike everything else she'd been jabbering on about.

"Yeah," he replied, "She has the day off, but she's told me she'll be out until lunch time. We're going to meet in the family home. She still lives there. So did my mom until recently."

"Oh…why did your mother move out?"

"Because she, ah, hasn't been doing so great lately, she's been staying in a local medical centre. Most of the time she's okay, but she has…off days."

He tried to keep his tone casual, but Teagan wasn't fooled, she could read him better than most humans now_._ Cursing herself for asking a question about his mother so flippantly, she reached out to stroke his hand.

Whatever came out of her mouth next was bound to sound like some meaningless platitude, but she knew she couldn't just sit there, staring at him in silence when he'd been so good to her over the last couple of hours.

"I'm sorry, Garrus," she said in the end, "Solana told you that your mother had got a place in that off-world medical trial the salarians are staging soon though, didn't she? Maybe that will make a real difference to her."

"I hope so."

"Me too. You know what some salarians are capable of. Look at Mordin. Fair enough, his experiments on the Normandy scare me half the time, but they do seem to work."

"That's true," he said, flaring his mandibles slightly.

"Yeah it definitely is. Hopefully, Solana will be able to tell you more about the trial later and it'll reassure you a bit_._ When exactly do you need to leave to meet with her?"

"In a couple of hours. I might try to see my mother later as well, but only if Sol thinks she's up to it today."

"Right, sounds like a plan." She paused. "Do you…do you want me to come with you to meet Solana, Garrus? I really am here for you, but I don't want to get in your way today." She spoke slowly, with care, knowing she'd already said far too many unhelpful things since they'd woken up together. "If you think it's best to see her on your own first, I totally understand. If you even want to leave it a few days before you introduce me to Solana then that's fine too. It's all up to you."

"I…haven't decided what to do about that yet. I was thinking though, either, way, you could come with me to the house for a while. I could show you around before Sol arrives."

The suggestion instantly brought a smile to Teagan's face. Honestly, she wasn't sure if she was ready to meet his sister, but she loved the idea of getting to see the Vakarian family home.

Part of her excitement stemmed from the fact that she'd never had an opportunity to snoop around a turian house before. Mostly though, she wanted to see where Archangel, the former protector of Omega and her most loyal soldier and closest friend had spent his early years. She doubted the place would be anything like the snug little cabin she'd grown up in on Mindoir anyway. His parents had both spent years earning money as high profile officials on Palaven and the Citadel. Hers had been rather unsuccessful farmers who'd never seemed to have more than a few hundred credits lodged in the bank.

"I like that idea a lot, Garrus," she said, trying not to sound too much like an over-excited ten year old on their way to a theme park.

"I thought you would." He looked at her with a warm expression on his face. "It seems only fair since I got to see where you grew up already."

"You're sure you want me to come?"

"Yes. Completely."

He sounded like he really meant it, causing the smile on Teagan's face to widen into a grin. "Will I get to see any embarrassing photos of you as a baby?"

"Maybe a couple."

"Then I really can't wait. Do you think I have enough time to get a little more breakfast before we leave the hotel though?"

Garrus shook his head in amusement. "I think so, but I'm glad I'm not paying for this meal. You're eating even more than you normally do."

Since it had been half an hour since his last joke about her eating habits, Teagan decided against pouring the remnants of her food over his head. "Well, I did say I was feeling more peckish than usual today."

Still grinning, she started to retrace the path to the buffet for the third time that morning. It was probably best not to tell him that her excessive eating in this instance had very little to do with genuine hunger and a lot more to do with her jangling, clanging nerves.

* * *

><p><strong>So this chapter was hard to write, but, hey, it got done eventually.<strong>

**Unfortunately, I'm coming to the end of my part-time creative writing course and have two stories to write before the 2nd June. This means Where You Belong will not be updated again until sometime after that date. Sorry! **

**After that though, I'm hoping to update every two weeks.**

**Thanks again for reading.**

.


	3. Homecoming

**So I'm finally back. Thanks for sticking with the story despite the long hiatus. Thanks especially to anyone who has left a review, favourited the story or put it on alert. I'm so so glad that people are enjoying reading this.**

**Sorry it took quite so long to get chapter 3 out. I wanted to post it sooner but just couldn't find the time to work on it until recently. You've no idea how good it felt to come back to writing about these two after finishing my assignments!**

* * *

><p>Garrus' boots struck the even concrete of the street he'd grown up on in a steady rhythm. When he'd last come here, it had been to see his mother and sister one more time before leaving civilised space for the dark and dirty back alleys of Omega.<p>

Two years had passed by since then, but in some ways, it felt like far longer. So much had happened to him in such a short time, and his family barely knew about any of it. He had no plans to fill in all of the gaps for them, however.

They didn't need to know about the countless men he'd killed trying to clean up Omega. Or that his crusade on the station had ended with him lying in a pool of his own blood on the floor of his hideout, surrounded by the bodies of the rest of his team. It was too much. Besides, Shepard…Teagan had saved his life and things had slowly begun to look up from there.

She was still by his side now, her hand clutched in his as they walked down the quiet and almost deserted residential street towards his old house.

He wasn't sure how he was going to feel when he was standing in front of it again. Coming home had never been something he looked forward to for days beforehand. Maybe it all came down to seeing himself as a bad turian. As much as he cared for his sister and mother, he knew he didn't really belong with them on Palaven.

In the end, the first thing he thought about when they reached the house was how overgrown the straggly bushes and shrubs in the garden had become. Before, they'd been pruned into neat, regular shapes by the gardener on his weekly visits. However, it looked like Solana had not been able to pay for his services for some time.

Gripping Teagan's hand tighter than before, Garrus walked into the middle of the garden with her. He felt like he should say something to mark their arrival at his old home, although all that eventually came out of his mouth was a lame, "Here we are."

She smiled at him. "Home sweet home, huh, Garrus?"

He tried to smile back. "Something like that."

"Well, wow. It's so…big. I can't imagine living in a place like this."

He felt a little embarrassed, remembering the cabin she'd grown up in on Mindoir. It had been small and cramped looking. But, despite all of that, she seemed to view it with far more affection than he'd ever felt towards the imposing two-storey, five bedroom house in front of him.

"It was alright most of the time," he said in the end, "But overall I think I prefer living on the Normandy. With you."

"Even though we're under the constant threat of death and there are crazy people roaming the hallways?"

"Yeah, definitely."

She laughed and looked at him with real warmth in her dark eyes. "Well, I'm very happy to hear that. Touched, in fact. But I do like this place. It's a bit intimidating maybe, but it still has its charm. I wasn't expecting it to have such a large garden for one thing. Most of Vectis is so dry and grey."

She walked over to one of the ugliest plants in the garden, a yellow coloured, fork-shaped shrub, and prodded it rather gingerly with a couple of her fingers. "What's this one called? It looks a little like an Earth cactus."

"I don't know," Garrus replied, "Unfortunately understanding horticulture was never one of my many talents."

"Oh well, I suppose your other skills more than make up for it." She smirked at him. "So…are you going to let me see the inside of the house as well?"

"Only if you're sure you're done poking that plant."

"I'm sure." She ambled over to him. "Let's go, Garrus."

He began to lead her deeper into the garden, following the straight stone path that ran down towards the house.

They were almost at the front door when a large bird suddenly took flight from the roof above them. It seemed to appear from nowhere, flapping its great black wings and shattering the fragile peace of their surroundings. As it swooped down directly over their heads, Teagan let out a small, startled yelp and bumped straight into Garrus' hard chest.

Somehow he managed not to laugh as he was forced to steady her, placing his arm firmly around her waist. He kept it there long after she had regained her balance; just in case she stumbled again of course.

"What _was_ that thing?" she asked him.

"Just a rengal," he replied, "They're found all over Palaven. Some places even consider them a delicacy. Don't think I've ever tasted one myself though."

"Turians eat them? Ulgh. I mean the skin on its neck looked mottled, like it was diseased."

"That's just how they look," he said, unable to stop himself from chuckling this time. It was just so strange to think that an animal he'd seen hundreds of times was completely new to her. You could probably look out of any Vectis window and spot one eventually. "Don't tell me the great Commander Shepard, the spectre who defeated Saren and the collectors without flinching, is scared of a bird."

"I'm not scared of it. It just…took me by surprise. The birds on Mindoir were a hell of a lot more fluffy and friendly looking than that thing." She ran one of hands through her hair. "I don't know, maybe I'm still a bit on edge from earlier."

"Do you need some time to recover and collect yourself?"

Rolling her eyes at him, she pushed his arm off her waist, but he knew she wasn't really mad. "No, smartass. Let's just go inside."

"Fine by me."

Without any further ado, he walked over to the glowing red panel on the front door, ready to input the security passcode. Even now, he could still vividly remember the first time he'd been told the number as a young child. At eight years old, his father had stood him outside the house and talked with him about the importance of being a good responsible turian for ten minutes before finally letting him enter the code with his small hands. It had almost been like undergoing some sort of bizarre coming of age ritual.

Partly because of that, Garrus never had any trouble remembering the number, no matter how long he stayed away from home. However, it also helped that his patriotic father had set the code to the date the turians were first granted a Citadel seat.

As he typed in the eight digits for the umpteenth time in his life, Garrus felt a twinge deep in his gut, realising just how long it had been since he and his father had last talked.

A moment later, however, he'd already pushed the feeling to one side, and when the door slid open he simply led Teagan straight into the house.

Initially, all he could see was the dim outline of the hallway in front of him, but after a couple of seconds the overhead lights detected their presence and flickered on, illuminating their surroundings. The room had changed little since Garrus' last visit, although it was slightly emptier. Some of the furniture had vanished, along with a few ornaments that had once sat in grooved alcoves along the walls. He was sure a black and gold painted metal vase was gone even though it had once been treasured by his mother.

It was possible that the items had simply been moved elsewhere, but Garrus couldn't help wondering if Solana had sold them to help pay the bills in recent months. He wanted to be wrong. Unfortunately, he knew he was probably right.

He took a couple of more steps forward and cautiously called out, "Sol?" into the silence of the hallway.

To his great relief, there was no answer and no sign of life from any part of the house. Solana was out just like she'd said she'd be. Garrus felt bad for being so glad that she wasn't home, but, at the same time, he just didn't feel quite ready to face his kid sister yet.

For one thing, he still hadn't decided whether to introduce her to Teagan straight away or meet with her alone first. He preferred the first option since it was simpler, but it was far riskier telling Solana everything at once. She had a tendency to explode on occasion and he really didn't want to overload her and end up accidentally setting her off.

At least he still had more time before he had to make a final decision.

He turned round to face Teagan. "I'm guessing you want the grand tour?"

"Of course," she said, smiling. "Lead the way, Garrus."

He ushered her into the living room first, where they were greeted by an assortment of comfy chairs and a leather sofa, all arranged in a circle around a small table. The room had always been set up to look a little more homely and welcoming than the rest of the house, but Garrus had never spent that much time in it with his family, often preferring instead to stay upstairs in his bedroom. Looking back, it almost seemed like he'd wasted an opportunity to get to know his mother better while she was still young and well.

There was absolutely nothing he could do to fix that mistake now, however. Rather than dwelling on it for any longer, he turned his attention back onto Teagan, watching as she strolled around the room.

After a moment or two, she flung herself rather unceremoniously onto the couch. "I think this sofa probably cost more than all the furniture in my family's cabin on Mindoir," she said, running her hands across the black leather. "Hell, my father used to make some of our tables and chairs himself just for the sake of saving a few credits."

Garrus walked over to her. "Well, we did use to be quite well off as a family, otherwise we never would have been able to afford a place in this neighbourhood. I think money's got a lot tighter over the last couple of years though."

"Right…sorry, Garrus, I wasn't thinking what I was saying."

Leaning down towards her, he bumped his forehead against hers. "I know, don't apologise. Now, come on, there are plenty more rooms for you to poke around in."

He hoisted her up onto her feet and then began to show her the rest of the ground floor. In his eyes, there was nothing particularly special about any part of his former home, even the furniture, though expensive, was mostly characterless and dull. However, Teagan seemed to enjoy herself, smiling and joking with him as they moved through the house room by room.

In the kitchen, she started opening cupboards, examining jars of food and utensils that seemed bizarre to her, though normal to him. She stopped only when she realised Garrus was staring at her with one brow ridge slightly raised. She looked a little sheepish, but he didn't really mind. The truth was that he found it rather endearing that she could get excited over such small things.

Humans were strange creatures really. Sure turians were known to get carried away in battle and in other circumstances where adrenaline was running high, but that was about it.

Still, strange or not, he would never want to change her.

* * *

><p>When they were standing in the hallway again after making their way through the rest of the ground floor, Garrus gestured towards the stairs. "I'll suppose you'll want to see my old bedroom next?"<p>

"Hell, yes," Teagan said, linking arms with him. She looked up at him expectantly. "Well, come on, show me."

He chuckled. "I can't believe how much you're enjoying this."

"Being here with you, seeing where you grew up…it's just really nice."

"Well, I'm glad you're having fun."

A slightly worried expression flitted across her face. "Aren't you?"

"Yeah, of course," he said, though he strongly suspected that having her for company was the only reason he was enjoying this experience at all.

Arm still looped with hers, he took her up the stairs, right to his bedroom door. When he'd been growing up, he'd been quite protective of his room. It had been his own private refuge, a place he could safely retreat to whenever he needed some time alone. But he didn't hesitate before bringing Teagan inside with him now. After all, he had gotten more than used to her coming into the main battery, his quiet sanctuary on the Normandy, whenever she felt like it.

Although he hadn't lived at home since leaving for boot camp as a fifteen year old, his bedroom had never been redecorated. The collection of model ships that he'd assembled by hand as a child was still sitting proudly on display in a large cabinet. Even the dark blue blanket covering the bed looked the same as the one he'd once slept under night after night, although it was clear it hadn't been disturbed for some time.

The walls had remained grey and were bare except for an old digital clock and some movie posters that he'd collected years ago. Most displayed images of epic battles or well-armoured turian soldiers ready to die for the honour of the Hierarchy.

Unfortunately, Teagan noticed the couple that featured close-ups of pretty turian women first.

Smirking, she strolled over to one of them. "Nice décor, Garrus. Very, very classy."

"They're movie posters," he said quickly.

Teagan raised an eyebrow. "From what kind of movies?"

"Not the kind you're thinking of." He suddenly found himself struggling for words. "Look I haven't stayed in this room for more than a couple of weeks at a time since I was fifteen. I lived on military ships and then on the Citadel for years. I…"

"I know, I know. I'm just messing with you, you big idiot." She sauntered over to him and punched him lightly on the shoulder. "So this was your room for fifteen years."

"Yeah…I spent a lot of my time in here, studying mostly. I'd be in school for hours, learning about duty, honour and how to serve the hierarchy, and then I'd come home and work some more. Guess not much of it stuck with me in the end though. It was all intended to make me a 'good' turian, but I hardly became a poster boy for the hierarchy."

She smiled at him. "Sounds like you made a big effort at the time though."

"I guess I did. My, ah, father was very keen that I take my education seriously. Even after he moved to the Citadel to work for C-Sec when I was ten, he still kept close tabs on how I was doing. It sounds ridiculous, but he liked to be sent weekly reports about my progress. I remember living in almost mortal fear of getting behind."

He walked over to the metal desk that had stood beside his bed for as long as he could remember. "I sat here most evenings with a pile of work in front of me."

Without thinking, he began to run one of his hands across the surface of the desk almost lovingly, recognising the scrapes carved it by his talons all those years ago. Returning to it was like getting reacquainted with an old, familiar friend. He'd spent hours in its company, more time than he'd spent with most of the people in his life.

He'd always felt strangely relaxed when he was sitting in front of it. In those moments, he'd been doing exactly what his father expected of him. No one would come to bother him and all he had to think about was the work. He got the same sense of calm now when he was calibrating the Normandy's guns or lying with Teagan asleep in his arms, watching her chest rise and fall and counting her breaths.

She moved beside him, resting one of her hands on his. "Sounds like it was hard going."

"The work itself wasn't the problem, I enjoyed it sometimes, but my father didn't exactly react well when I failed to meet his expectations. He never once laid a hand on me, but then he didn't really need to. He was more than capable of conveying his disappointment with just words. I hated feeling like I'd let him down."

"I can't imagine what that must have been like for you," Teagan said softly. "My parents were happy enough as long as I passed most of my exams."

"It was…hard sometimes."

Garrus looked down at the desk, at where Teagan's hand still lay on top of his, unsure of whether or not to continue talking about all of this. Being here, in this house, was dredging things up far more than he had expected it to. Usually he kept his darker feelings to himself, but he was starting to feel like discussing some of them with Teagan might actually be a good idea. He'd always tried to be there when she needed someone to talk to and he knew she was willing to return the favour

It made sense for them to try to share their troubles with each other, to shoulder the heavy weight together so neither of them would be crushed by it. She definitely seemed to want that kind of closeness with him. Oddly though, he was still far more comfortable helping her with her problems than he was letting her help him. It was hard to put his caution completely to one side, even for her.

In the end, however, he decided to keep talking in this instance. He turned to face her. "I tried so hard to keep my father happy back then. He wanted the best for me. Only the best. He seemed to think I was some sort of child prodigy, but it was too much. I spent years chasing his approval and never quite getting it. Mom wanted me to do well too, but she never put pressure on me the way he did."

"So I guess you always got on better with your mother than with your father then?" Teagan asked.

"Yeah, I suppose so. I'm actually surprised I managed to stay in touch with my father for as long as I just ended up being so different from each other_._ He was upset when I left C-Sec the first time and furious the second time. I guess he thought I was back on track when I returned to my old job. But I realised I couldn't do it anymore after the Normandy was destroyed. You gave me all that advice about rules being there for a reason, I did listen, but you were gone and no-one seemed to care."

The news of her death had hit him hard, far harder than the death of a commander should hit a subordinate officer. He'd been so shocked when he'd first found out that he'd ended up spending the rest of his working day staring at the pile of unfiled reports on his desk.

Back at home, he still hadn't been able to accept that she could really be gone from the galaxy, from him. He'd come to see her as an unshakable, immortal creature, like the heroes from ancient turian legend. He'd thought she could survive anything, but she was dead. For the rest of the day, he'd followed the news reports about her death almost obsessively. He had to know everything, every last detail about how it happened.

He'd found out her given name for the first time from those reports, but that had just made him feel worse, as if he knew a secret he shouldn't have been privy to. It hadn't seemed right to him that something she hadn't chosen to share with most people, even her own crew, had suddenly been blasted out everywhere.

Now though, he loved calling her Teagan, knowing that he alone was the only one on intimate enough terms with her to be allowed to use her real name.

He glanced at her as she continued to stand beside him in his old bedroom and realised she'd gone very still and quiet. Her face had turned even paler than usual and that was always a bad sign.

She hated talking about her death. He knew that. He shouldn't have brought it up.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to upset you."

She shook her head. "It's okay, Garrus. I died. You can say it."

"I shouldn't have said it like that, though. It wasn't that no-one cared. The crew did. I…I did. I know I'd already left the Normandy but I always thought we'd meet again. When I heard about what happened I started to feel like I had to get away and do something, I just didn't know what. I resigned from C-Sec four months later. Saving whole galaxy was too much for me so I ended up going to Omega. I thought I could help protect its people." He let out a harsh laugh. "Shows what I know. While I was there, I did my best to keep up some contact with Sol and my mother, but my father hasn't spoken to me since I left the Citadel."

"I'm sorry, Garrus, I really am." She looked into his eyes. "Do you ever miss your father?"

Garrus thought back to the strange twinge he'd felt punching in the security code to open the front door. "Maybe sometimes, for a moment. Most of the time, I try not to think about him too much."

She gave him a sad smile. "Well, at least you were right about the two of us meeting up again, though it probably didn't happen the way you expected."

"No, but I'm definitely glad you found me."

"I wasn't going to let a silly little thing like being dead for two years stop us from getting together in the end."

He laughed, really laughed deep in his chest and then leant down to bunt her forehead with his_._ "So…do you want to finish the tour?"

"Yeah, sure," she said, "I haven't seen any photos of baby Garrus yet."

"Most of them are in the study. I'll show you."

He started to walk towards the door, but Teagan placed her hand gently on his arm. "You're sure we still have time before Solana comes home?"

Garrus glanced at the clock on the wall and felt enormously relieved when he saw how early it still was. "Yeah we're good for time. We have another hour before she said she'd be home."

Despite his answer, Teagan kept her hand on his arm. "Have…have you decided whether or not you want me to leave before she arrives?"

"No…not yet."

"Okay." She released his arm, but then said, "You'll decide soon, right?"

"Of course," he replied, even though he was no closer to deciding what to do than he had been when they'd first entered the house. He gestured towards the hallway. "Follow me."

He started to head in the direction of the study just as he intended to, but, somehow, his feet ended up bringing him to completely the wrong door. Behind it lay the room that had served as his mother's bedroom for years. He made no move to go inside, but he didn't start walking forward again either.

Teagan stopped beside him, looking slightly confused as he continued to stand there without moving. "Is this the study then?"

"No." He stared at the sealed door, knowing that his mother's furniture, her clothes, her books, were all hidden behind it. "This was my mother's room before she moved out."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

He thought about peaking in for a moment, but changed his mind_. _He didn't want to see the vacant bed or any evidence of his mother's condition that might have been left lying around the room. Even when he'd last been here, his mother had already been taking copious amounts of medication to help ease her symptoms. Every day, she'd had to swallow a collection of little life preservers with a glass of water at breakfast.

"The study's just down here, opposite Sol's room," he said, finally deciding to move away from the door.

This time, he led Teagan straight into the study without getting waylaid.

The room contained several bookcases full of datapads and printed books as well as a large, ornate desk and a sofa. However, a small section of one of the walls had been given up entirely to photographs. They had been hung in rows, set out like a patchwork of the Vakarian family history.

Teagan positioned herself directly in front of the pictures, examining them all with a look of concentration on her face while Garrus simply leant against one of the bookcases and watched her. Maybe it was selfish, but he wanted to focus on the two of them for just a while longer, not on his mother, not on Solana or anyone else.

From the moment he'd brought Teagan in through the front door, his past and present had been colliding with each other and yet, somehow, it didn't feel at all strange. He wasn't sure how the rest of this trip would go, how good an idea coming back to Palaven had really been, but he was definitely glad that she was with him.

After a moment or two, she pointed at a picture of him asleep as a small child. "Ah, so that's what you look like without facial markings. You know, I think this photo is my favourite out of all of them. Who could possibly have guessed that this tiny kid would grow up to be one of the best snipers in the galaxy?"

He folded his arms. "Why do I feel like you're trying to embarrass me?"

"Possibly because I am." She laughed. "You really were a very cute child though. Your little mandibles and tiny fringe look so adorable in these pictures."

"Teagan…"

"Don't worry, Garrus. You're cute as an adult too."

"I'm so glad you said that. I would have lost sleep worrying about my looks otherwise."

Grinning, Teagan turned towards the photos again, but the next time she spoke her voice had lost its teasing lilt, "I've just noticed something. There are all these photos of you and Solana, but hardly any of your parents together."

As far as Garrus could see, there was in fact only one that featured the two of them. It showed his parents on their wedding day, still wearing their ceremonial robes and standing about half a metre apart from each other. It probably should've been a happy photo, but it wasn't.

"Yeah," he said, "I'm not really surprised. They've been married for years now, but they never really got on with each other that well."

"But surely they must have been happy at first to get married and all?"

"I'm not sure."

"I don't think I quite understand, Garrus. Most humans marry because they're in love and think they want to spend the rest of their lives with someone."

"Well…turian marriages aren't exactly the same as human marriages. I mean, they're still supposed to last for life, but they tend to be more formal and more…practical. Ideally, they're meant to create strong partnerships that will produce healthy children and benefit both of the spouses' families in some way. Love isn't always seen as the most, uh, important factor."

Teagan's brow furrowed. "Then what is?"

"Umm…" He paused trying to think of the best possible way to answer her question, but his mind had gone completely blank. "Well…a lot of turians take things like social rank, career history, family background and even financial status into consideration as well when picking a life partner."

He drew in a long breath before continuing, "It can take a couple of years for a marriage contract to be negotiated. During that time, the couple usually exchange courtship gifts with each other and their families meet up regularly to work out the finer details. Turians may be allowed a lot of personal freedoms, but marriage is a state institution and meant to be taken seriously."

"Oh." Teagan laughed, though she sounded more nervous than genuinely amused. "I didn't know any of that. Guess I probably should have though."

"Don't worry about it, Teagan," he said, desperate to reassure her. "I don't mind explaining these things for you. Not every turian marriage is like the stereotype anyway." He shot a furtive look at her, but she didn't seem to notice. "Some turians do marry for love."

"Right, well, that's good I guess." Her voice sounded rather flat, though it was back to normal a moment later. "You said something about courtship gifts. What kind of things do turians give each other?"

"The gifts can be anything really, jewellery, decorative items, it doesn't matter," he said, "They're just meant to prove the couple can provide for each other. Don't, uh, some humans sometimes exchange small bands of metal with each other?"

"Yes, but in the culture I come from, they only do that on the wedding day itself. The woman also gets a thing called an engagement ring when the couple first agree to get married."

"Well, it's a bit like that, but all before the marriage ceremony. Like I said though, not every turian follows all the traditions." He decided not to tell her that most turians still thought it was important to get their family's approval before marrying. In case the rest of this trip didn't go as well as he hoped, she really didn't need to know that one little piece of information.

He couldn't help finding it ironic that he was explaining turian marriage in so much intricate detail when it was a topic that he had often done his best to avoid in the past. Years ago, his dear old father had been planning to marry him off to some well-connected turian girl, perhaps even to one of his friends' daughters. But Garrus had resisted all attempts that were made to set him up with some eligible match and remained carefree and single.

Lately though, he had to admit that the idea of marriage didn't seem quite so horrifying. His father was out of the picture and he had a mate who he loved. Once or twice he'd even found himself idly looking for information about human marriage practices on the extranet. Although he knew quite a lot about human culture from his time working on the Citadel and serving on both of the Normandys, he figured there was no harm in learning all the ins and outs of that particular subject.

There would still be complications of course, but if one day he thought there was a real chance Teagan might actually say yes…

Her voice suddenly cut across his thoughts. "Garrus? You okay in there? You looked like you were somewhere else for a few seconds."

"I'm fine," he said quickly, "Is there anything else you want to know?"

"Well, I was wondering, did your parents go through all that pomp and ceremony?"

"Knowing my father, probably."

"But why? Maybe I'm still looking at this too sentimentally, but why do all of that if they couldn't get on?"

"I guess they looked like a pretty good match on paper. A government official and a police officer of similar rank marrying each other probably seemed like it would work. In practice though, they drove each other crazy."

"Do you ever remember them being happy?"

He knew she wanted a different answer, but he had to tell her the truth. "Honestly, no. When my father took the C-Sec job on the Citadel they both seemed to be more relieved than anything else. I went with Sol to visit him there a lot, but my mother didn't always come."

"I see." She paused for a moment. "Can turians get divorced?"

"Yeah."

"Why didn't they?"

"No idea. Maybe they figured it wasn't worth the effort. Besides, they both let each other have friends over the years."

"'Friends'? What do you…oh." Her eyes widened. "Never mind."

She looked at the picture of his parents intently, her eyes locking onto the two figures and the distant that existed between them even then.

"I'm sorry you grew up with that," she said eventually. The look on her face made him want to wrap his arms around her. Or maybe he was just in need of some comfort himself, he wasn't sure. "I think my parents were happy together, at least from what I can remember. Not that it mattered in the end when the batarians came. But it can work out sometimes, can't it? Despite all the odds, some people do manage to stay happy together for years, right?"

"Yeah," he said because he desperately wanted it to be true. He wanted to believe that she would never leave him again, for any reason.

He gave into the urge to hold her, pulling her firmly into his arms and lowering his head down towards hers so she could kiss him. Right at that moment he needed to feel that closeness to her, the certainty that she was still physically there. Whenever they kissed, she had to take the lead, but he didn't mind. They had both learnt to make adjustments for each other since starting their foray into interspecies dating.

As their mouths finally met, he tightened his grip on her. Even through the material of his gloves, he could feel the rapid pounding of her pulse on his palms. Every single beat told him that she was still very much alive. Still his.

Perhaps he should have felt strange to be kissing a human in the house he grew up in, but he found he couldn't care less about what constituted appropriate behaviour when her soft lips were still on his mouth.

The kiss broke eventually, but Garrus didn't release her. Instead, he walked them both towards the sofa at the back of the room. When they reached it he gently pushed her so she fell down onto the cushions.

"Hey! What are you doing?" she said, but there was amusement rather than any reproach in her voice and she made no attempt to get back up, remaining sprawled across the leather instead.

"Celebrating us still being together," he replied.

He was about to join her on the sofa, but then he heard the unmistakable sound of a door opening downstairs. He jumped, actually jumped, just like Teagan had done outside, and knocked over a nearby chair.

A couple of seconds later, the familiar sound of Solana's voice came from downstairs. "Garrus is that you I can hear up there?

Teagan immediately bolted to her feet with an expression that so clearly said "Oh shit" that there was no real need for her to say it out loud.

"Garrus?" Solana repeated. "That is you right?"

"Yeah…it's me," he replied.

"You're early you know, but then I guess I am too. It didn't take me as long to run my errands as I thought it would. I decided I may as well come home rather than staying out and spending money I don't have."

"Sounds sensible. I'll, uh, be down in a minute, Sol."

Many times in his life, Garrus had fought his way through battles that had gone wrong. He had the scars to prove it. But this…this was a complete disaster. He'd made no real plans about how to tackle this situation and they were effectively cornered.

He stood staring at Teagan, at a loss for what to do next.

"Maybe I should try to sneak out?" she suggested quietly.

"No. There's no point, it sounds like she's standing in the downstairs hallway. You may as well just meet her now. It'll be okay, Teagan."

Before they could say anything else to each other, Solana's voice reached them again, "Garrus, what the hell is taking you so long? I haven't seen you for more than two years. Get down here!"

That was it; they were going to have to face her.

* * *

><p><strong>I have to confess, this chapter was originally meant to continue on after this but I had to split it because it was getting too long. I think I got just a tad carried away describing Garrus' house.<strong>

**Anyway, since this ends on a sort of mini-cliff-hanger, I will try to update in two weeks' time on the 26****th**** June. I can't make any promises, but when I set myself a deadline I usually meet it.**

**From now on, I'm hoping to update this regularly every two or three weeks. Sadly, I don't have the time right now to go any faster than that and my writing really suffers when I rush.**

**Thanks again for reading :)**


	4. Under the spotlight

**So this chapter somehow ended up being the longest thing I've ever written, beating Chapter 8 of Home by about three hundred or so words. It marks my first proper attempt at trying to write Solana. I've based her character on the tiny bit of canon info we have about her, but I've also 'borrowed' some personality traits from my own kid sister who I love but occasionally want to strangle (the feeling is mutual).**

**I'm not entirely sure how this came together in the end. To be honest, I'm finding this fic a lot harder than Home to write, though I'm not sure why yet. I hope you all enjoy this chapter anyway.**

**It starts a little abruptly, but that's because it leads on directly from the last chapter.**

**Thanks to anyone reading this. A big thanks to anyone who has reviewed and the people who have put this on alert or favourited the story. It all means a lot to me.**

**Note: I did my final editing checks to this when I was ill so please forgive the mistakes! I'll probably re-edit it when I'm feeling better.**

**...  
><strong>

Garrus stole a final glance at Teagan and then called out, "I'll be down in just a second, Sol."

"Good," she replied. "Why are you up there anyway?"

"Uh…I was…I was…" To hell with it, he was going to have to say it. "I was showing someone around the house."

"Who?" she said, managing to sound both annoyed and bemused all at once.

"Ah…my Commander. Teagan Shepard. The human I told you I'd been serving with over the last few months."

"Right." There was a long pause before she spoke again. "Could you please both just hurry up and get down here? I'm tired of yelling up these stairs."

"We're on our way."

He immediately headed towards the hallway, gesturing for Teagan to come with him. She did, but for the first time all day, she looked unhappy to be following in his wake.

Just a moment later, they were both standing at the top of the stairs. Only seventeen small steps now separated them from Solana. Garrus leant down towards Teagan's ear and gently whispered, "You ready?"

She shook her head, causing her soft hair to catch on his mandibles and tickle his chin. "Honestly, no, Garrus…but let's do this anyway. I guess it is my turn to follow you into hell instead of the other way round."

That was good enough for him. He let out a quiet huff of laughter and then propelled himself forward. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he found his kid sister standing just in front of him surrounded by grocery bags.

As young children, the two of them had once spent hours every day playing together in the rooms of this house, sharing the bright, gaudy toys their parents had bought for them. Now as fully-grown adults they barely saw each other. Garrus tried to stay in touch by sending her regular messages and they'd spoken at length just a few days ago when he'd told her he was coming to visit. No matter how many pages of text they exchanged though, it was never going to be the same as seeing her face to face.

He may not have missed Palaven or even his former home during the two years he'd been away fighting in different corners of the galaxy, but as he looked at Solana, he realised that he had most definitely missed her.

Solana, meanwhile, was staring at Teagan, who had followed Garrus down the stairs and was now standing awkwardly at his side with her hands clasped together.

Eyes slightly narrowed, she looked her up and down from head to toe at least twice before finally glancing at her brother. Almost straight away, a look of horror formed on her face. "Spirits, Garrus, what the _hell _happened to your face?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Garrus realised he should have come up with some simple explanation for his scars that he could recite off by heart. But he hadn't so he decided the best thing he could do now was play them down as much as possible.

For the most part, they didn't bother him all that much anymore. Well, at least not physically. When the injury was still fresh, it had hurt every time he'd tried to move the right side of his face, but now he only felt the occasionally twinge. Soon, he probably wouldn't even need to wear a bandage to protect the area.

Mordin and Dr Chakwas really had done an exceptionally good job of repairing the damage caused by the rocket blast. They'd spent hours working on him after he'd first been brought on board the Normandy SR2, battling to stabilise him while he drifted feverishly in and out of consciousness. He owed them a hell of a lot. He knew he could so easily have died or ended up with permanent disabilities. In the end though, all he had been left with to remind him of his failures on Omega were the neat scars on his face and neck and nothing more.

"It's a long story, Sol," Garrus said, finally finding his voice, "But I'm fine. Really."

Some of the shock had left her face, but her eyes were still focused on his injury. "Garrus, what happened?" she repeated.

"Uh, well, I was in a combat situation on a mission and it went a little…wrong."

"A 'little wrong'. Could you be a tad more specific?"

"I got shot." He knew he was still being vague, but he wanted her to presume that a single bullet had somehow caused all of the damage. She never needed to know that he'd taken a rocket directly to his face. "I recovered. I'm fine."

"Did you say this happened on a mission?" Suddenly Solana was looking at Teagan again. "You're his Commander. Aren't you supposed to keep your squad safe?"

Teagan opened her mouth to answer, but Garrus started speaking before she could. There was no way in hell he was going to let her take any blame for what happened to him on Omega. "Solana," he said firmly, "It wasn't Tea…Shepard's fault. I got into a mess and she helped me out of it. It's thanks to her I'm still alive."

"Oh." Solana seemed to take a moment to digest this information, "Well, I suppose I should thank you then, Commander."

"That's okay," Teagan replied. "Garrus is an important member of my crew. I made sure the doctors on board the Normandy patched him up the best they could and got him back on his feet. I don't know what I'd do without him on my team."

Solana nodded and was silent for a few seconds, but then said, "Do you always visit your crew members' homes, Commander?"

She addressed the question directly to Teagan. However, Garrus was the one who answered. "She's a…friend, Solana. We've been through a lot together. She brought her ship to Vectis so I could see you and mom. I, ah, thought she'd like to see the house."

"But I can leave," Teagan said quickly. "If you want me to go then that's fine. I'm sure you and Garrus have a lot to catch up on and I definitely don't want to get the way of that."

"No, stay," Solana replied, "Garrus obviously had his reasons for bringing you here. But let's not do this all out in the hall. We'll all be more comfortable in the living room."

Without another word, she left her grocery bags behind on the floor and walked past both of them. Garrus and Teagan shot a nervous look at each other, but followed her into the living room anyway.

For a few seconds, the three of them simply stood in the centre of the room staring at each other, but then Solana said, "Well, let's all take a seat."

Obediently, Teagan headed towards the sofa. She deposited herself on it delicately, rather than throwing herself down onto the cushions like she had done earlier. Garrus thought about sitting a chair across from her, but in the end changed his mind and sat down beside her instead.

He positioned himself so that there was an obvious gap of a couple of inches between them. No part of their bodies was touching. Even so, Garrus was still close enough to feel the heat radiating from her core. He wanted so badly to bridge the distance between them so that they would be connected in some small way throughout this entire ordeal but knew he shouldn't. Not yet. Not until he could find the words to tell Solana about their relationship.

She had chosen to sit down in a chair directly opposite them. After watching them both for a brief moment, she turned towards Garrus and said, "How does it feel to home be again after all this time?"

"A bit strange," he admitted. "The house is looking good though, Sol." It wasn't technically a lie. Considering that she was looking after the massive place on her own, she was doing a good job, far better than he could have done.

She smiled weakly at him. "Thanks, I guess. I had to have a bit of a clear out recently, but I've been doing my best to keep everything in good order like mom used to. You could've stayed here you know, instead of going to that hotel."

"I didn't want to impose on you."

"It wouldn't have been a problem, Garrus." She paused. "Is your hotel as fancy as it looks on the extranet?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Good. I know it probably serves great food, but I brought some lunch for us earlier if you want it? I thought it might be nice for us to eat together since we've been apart for so long."

"That does sound nice."

Solana turned towards Teagan. "Unfortunately, I don't have anything that would be safe for you to eat, Commander. I wasn't expecting Garrus to bring anyone with him, let alone a human. In fact, I think you're the first one of your species to visit this house. The only thing I can offer you is a glass of water, I'm afraid."

"The water will be fine," Teagan said, with a small, polite smile on her face. "I'm not really hungry. I had a big breakfast."

Garrus knew she had to be lying. Thanks to her biotic amp, she always seemed to be hungry. Sometimes, he'd caught her eating junk food in bed in the depths of the night.

However, she'd obviously decided that right now staying on his sister's good side was far more important than complaining about being left with an empty stomach. He'd have to make sure to treat her to a huge meal later to thank her.

Solana stood up. "I suppose I'll get the food now. I need to put the groceries I left out in the hall away anyway. You two can make yourself at home while I'm gone. We'll talk more after I get back."

Maybe he was imagining things, but Garrus couldn't help feeling that there was something ominous about the way she put so much emphasis on that last sentence.

He watched her walk out the door, as did Teagan. He could tell she wanted to say something to him, but she seemed to be waiting until Solana was completely out of earshot.

Once the sound of her footsteps had become faint, Teagan turned towards him. "God, Garrus, that was so awkward and you haven't even told her about us yet. I mean, I knew she was going to be upset about scars, but that was something else. Are you alright?"

"Just about," he said, "How are you holding up?"

"I'm okay, but, Garrus, I'm worried. How the hell are you going to tell her that we're together? I mean, are you going to start catching up and then suddenly slip 'by the way I'm sleeping with my Commander' into the conversation?"

"Well, I wasn't going to use those exact words, but, basically, yeah." He tried to look at her in a reassuring way, though he doubted that he'd quite managed to pull it off. "It'll be okay, Teagan. I just need to wait for the right moment."

She slumped forward in her chair. "God. I know I shouldn't be getting worked up about this, but I've never been introduced to my boyfriend's family before. Is this situation always so stressful?"

"I don't know. This is new for me too. I've never brought a girl home."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Solana had once caught him trying to sneak a girl into his room while their mother was out, but that probably didn't count. She'd found them both heading up the stairs, already in a slightly dishevelled state. He'd tried to come up with some innocent explanation for the girl's presence in the house, but Sol hadn't bought it for a second. The whole situation had been excruciatingly embarrassing and he didn't particularly want to tell Teagan about it now. Nor would she probably want to hear about it.

If he had a turian mate that he was this serious about, then the proper procedure would be for him to call a family meeting and invite her along to it. Then he could state his intentions and they could all sit down together and discuss the relationship and what kind of future it had.

But Teagan was a human. He knew humans usually made a point of introducing their partners to their families at some point, but from what he'd found out on the extranet, their rituals seemed to be far more casual.

It just wouldn't be fair for him to try to make her follow turian protocols that she would barely understand. Besides, calling a family meeting was not really an option with his mother in hospital and his estranged father living on the other side of the galaxy on the citadel. The two of them were just going to have to muddle through as best they could.

"So basically neither of us has a clue what we're doing?" Teagan said.

"Pretty much," he admitted.

"Great." She slumped even further forward, placing her head in her hands.

"Look on the bright side, Teagan, at least she came home when she did and not five minutes later."

She laughed quietly, but didn't raise herself back up so Garrus leant forward and gently pulled her hands away from her face. "Teagan," he said softly, "I know Sol has a temper, but she's okay really. She's always been a good sister to me."

Sure, they'd had their fights over the years and sometimes drove each other crazy, but he meant what he said. He knew that no matter what happened that the two of them would still care about each other. Even if he told Solana about everything that he'd done on Omega_,_ he was sure would never disown him, though she would definitely give him a piece of her mind.

Teagan sighed. "I'm sure she has been, Garrus, but I don't think she's too pleased I'm here and she hasn't even been told that we're together yet. Maybe I should go. We could do all of this some other time, in a couple of days or something."

As she finished speaking, she looked like she was already halfway out the door in her mind

"Teagan, stay," he said firmly. "It'll be okay. Really." He hoped he wasn't lying to her. "We'll get through this. Later we can go back to the hotel and forget about everything except each other."

"Sounds…nice."

Yes, it did. For a moment, Garrus wanted nothing more than to pick her up and run out of the house. He could almost picture himself carrying her through the streets to the hotel and then straight up the stairs to the king-size bed in their room. However, the more rational part of him knew that wasn't an option. He needed to stay here and sort things out with his only sister.

In the end, rather than doing anything reckless or heroic, he simply wrapped his arms protectively around Teagan and rested his head against hers.

They stayed entangled like that on the sofa for some time.

Eventually, Teagan relaxed enough to shut her eyes as he held her, but they flew open again far too quickly for his liking. "I think Solana's coming, Garrus."

She was right. Someone was making noises out in the hallway. Garrus immediately pulled both of his arms off Teagan and moved away from her so that they were no longer touching. He felt bad for doing it, but decided he'd just have to make it up to her when they got back to hotel.

A moment later, Solana came in through the living room door. She was carrying a tray piled high with three glasses of water, two bowls of food and an assortment of cutlery. After setting it all down on the table at the centre of the room, she grabbed one of the bowls, sat down and said, "Well, help yourselves."

Teagan immediately picked up one of the glasses of water, clutching it tightly in her small hands. Garrus followed suit, lifting the bowl of food Solana had brought in for him into his lap. It was filled with a kind of cold stew called cibus which, as far as he could remember, was prepared by blending vegetables and pre-cooked meat together. When he and Sol were children, their mother had made it for them fairly regularly. She hadn't been able to cook for them every night because of how busy she was all the time, but Garrus still had some fond memories of the three of them sitting round the dining room table and eating together.

This cibus was clearly store brought rather than homemade, but Garrus found it tasted pretty good. He sat eating it in silence for a couple of minutes and then smiled at Solana. "This is really nice, Sol. Thanks for picking it up."

"I'm glad you like it," she replied, in between mouthfuls.

"Well it's been a while since I've been able to have proper turian food. The cook on the Normandy tries his best, but he's a human with no idea how turian food should taste."

"That must be frustrating."

"Sometimes." He took another couple of bites and so did Solana. "Mom used to make this, didn't she? I've missed it."

"Yeah…she was a good cook when she had the time."

Garrus nodded in agreement. "So, ah, where did you get this stuff?"

"A grocery store a few blocks away. It's cheap and the food is okay so I shop there a lot." She paused, setting her bowl back down on the table. "Garrus, this small talk is nice and all, but I don't want us to spend the rest of this visit exchanging meaningless pleasantries. We hardly see each other so let's start talking properly. Tell me more about what you've been doing lately on Shepard's ship. You were so vague in your messages. I mean, you didn't even bother to let me know that you'd been injured." She glanced towards Teagan. "You're the first human spectre, aren't you?" Teagan nodded. "Surely you must have had some adventures with her, Garrus."

"Ah…well, we've mainly just been trying to make the galaxy a safer place."

"And how exactly have you been doing that?" Solana asked.

"It's a little complicated," he replied, "We've been protecting people, breaking up slaver rings and mercenary operations, fighting the geth, that kind of thing." Now was not the time for them all to get drawn into a conversation about the collectors, the reapers and the fact that everything in the galaxy was at risk of being completely annihilated in the not so distant future.

Solana seemed to be far from satisfied with his answer. "Would dad approve of what you've been up to?"

"I don't know. I think he'd approve of some of it, if not all of it."

"What wouldn't he approve of?"

"Not too much I guess, but you know how hard dad is to please. I've just been trying to do what's right."

"What exactly does that even mean, Garrus?" she said, sounding exasperated. "You always have to keep things back, don't you? Why did you wait until a week ago to even tell me that you were serving on Shepard's ship again? Mom and I were so worried about you. We didn't have any clue where you were and don't even get me started on that 'contract work' you said you were doing last year. I've spent months scared that you might end up getting injured, or worse." Her eyes fell on his scars. "Apparently with good reason."

"I don't know what to say, Sol." He really didn't. "I know it might not make sense to you, but I didn't tell you more because I _didn't_ want you to worry about me."

"By telling us nothing, Garrus, you just left us to imagine the worst. It was horrible."

"I'm sorry, Sol." He paused for a moment trying to work out if there was anything he could say to make this better. There probably wasn't, but he couldn't sit there in silence**.** "I thought what I was doing was for the best, but maybe I was wrong. I can try to keep you better informed from now on as long as it won't compromise the mission if that's really what you want."

"You mean it?"

"Yeah."

That seemed to placate her a little. "Good. I'm going to hold you to that."

"Fair enough. You know, you haven't told me much about what you've been getting up to lately either."

"Well, I certainly haven't been wandering around the galaxy like you, Garrus. To be honest, I haven't really been doing much of anything. Work's been okay, but I've had to cut my hours down a bit so I can spend more time with mom. Things are alright, but they've been better."

As she spoke, Garrus noticed for the first time since she'd arrived at the house just how worn down she appeared. Her green eyes, usually her best feature, were dull and tired. She was also wearing faded clothes that looked as if they were a couple of years old.

From a fairly young age, Solana had cared about her appearance. Perhaps even a little too much. Some months, half of her wages seemed to have been spent on clothes, shoes and ridiculously expensive accessories. Now though, it was clear her priorities had changed.

"You're sure you're okay, Sol?" he said.

"Of course. You know me, Garrus; I've always been able to roll with the punches."

Although he suspected that she was lying, he knew not to push it the issue any further. Solana rarely liked to show her vulnerable side and she certainly couldn't be forced into it. "How's mom been so far this week?"

"Not great. She's no better than the last time we talked about her. She's still getting a lot of headaches and dizzy spells. You've no idea how happy I am that she's got a place in that off-world trial with the salarians." The relief in in her voice was all too obvious. "And thank the Spirits the fees have been waived so it's going to be completely free. I was starting to think we were going to have to sell this house to fund everything. Now we don't need to. Well, at least not anytime soon."

"It's great news, Sol. I was really pleased when you first told me."

He shared a quick, but meaningful look with Teagan. He was so glad he'd been able to help set that up for Sol and his mother. Even though he would never tell either of them about his involvement, it was the only thing he'd done lately that didn't make him worry that he was a pathetic excuse for a brother and son.

"When exactly do you and mom leave?" he asked.

"In a couple of weeks. I've got some leave saved up so I should be able to stay with her the whole time. I figure we might be away from Palaven for a few months, but it'll be worth it if mom improves even a bit."

"I really hope it works."

"Spirits, me too. It's just a pity you won't be there with us."

"I can't leave the Normandy for that long, Sol. You know that really," Garrus said, wishing the conversation hadn't taken another unfortunate turn so quickly. "I'm here right now instead."

"But only for a week. Why you couldn't you stay for a few more days?"

Her question, as well as the way she looked at him when she said it, made Garrus feel more than a little guilty. It also seemed to have a similar effect on Teagan. She shuffled awkwardly beside him and took a loud gulp of her water.

But Teagan, unlike him, had absolutely no reason to feel guilty. She'd brought her ship thousands of miles across the galaxy to this city just so he could see his family. Not many people would go to such extreme lengths to keep their mate happy. Garrus knew all he had to do was ask and she'd let him stay behind in Vectis for as long as he liked.

He wouldn't ask her though. His place was on the Normandy now. Not here. Although he wanted to do the best he could by his mother and sister, he couldn't leave the fight against the reapers when there were billions of lives at stake. He knew that Teagan was going to need people she could trust around her to have any chance of success.

Far less honourably, he also knew that he couldn't bear the thought of being separated from his mate for too long. They'd only had a few weeks together so far and he needed so much more than that to be even close to satisfied.

"Sol, I really am sorry," he said, and he meant it, "But what I'm doing on the Normandy is too important for me to take an extended vacation right now. I'll try to come visit you at the off-world centre if things are quiet enough in a couple of months."

"Right, fine," she replied, though her tone of voice made it sound like it wasn't really fine at all. "I just hope you actually do, Garrus."

The room fell completely silent and Teagan started to fidget again, taking another small sip of her water. Garrus had to fight the urge to reach out to her, to touch her and let her know that everything was still alright. All he could do safely given the current situation was glance over to her. She ended up trying to smile at him to reassure him that she was okay, but it wasn't even remotely convincing.

As he continued to hold her gaze, Garrus started to wonder if he should just tell Sol about their relationship now. He didn't want to keep regulating how he was behaving towards Teagan. Way too much tension had gathered in this room already and Solana clearly suspected that he was holding things back from her. He could just drop the information into conversation and be done with it.

It wouldn't be easy. No part of this visit had been so far. Still, he had to try. "Solana, there's something else I think we should maybe talk about now, to do with me and, ah, Shepard."

She fixed her eyes on his. "Yes, I was wondering if you were going to bring that up yourself or if I was going to have to try to force it out of you like everything else."

"What…what do you mean?"

"Come on, Garrus, give me some credit. Do you really think I haven't noticed the way the two of you keep looking at each other?"

His mouth fell open. That was direct even for her.

"Well, Garrus?"

"Shepard…Teagan is my mate…we're together," he finally forced out, looking at Teagan rather than Solana as he said it. Her small human body tensed up, but she reacted well enough considering that he'd blurted out the truth in the most inarticulate way possible.

"That's what I thought," Solana said simply.

Garrus braced himself for whatever was coming next**. **He couldn't help thinking back to the time Solana had found him sneaking that girl into his room again. She really had been insufferable afterwards, trying to find out exactly what they'd been getting up to and threatening to tell their parents if he didn't give her twenty credits.

This situation now had the potential to be even worse than that. He was facing adult Solana, not the nosy, easily distracted teenage version of her.

However, in the end, what she said next was simply, "I suppose Garrus brought you here to meet with me then, Commander?"

"Well…sort of," Teagan said. "Garrus really was showing me around the house, but when you came home early he said I should just stay."

Garrus offered his sister a smile. "I thought you may as well meet her today rather than later in the week, Sol."

She didn't smile back. "How long has this relationship been going on for?"

"Uh…not that long, but we care about each other a lot," he replied. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Teagan give a faint nod in agreement.

"I see."

No one seemed to know what to say next, remaining mute in their chairs. For a moment, the only sounds in the room were caused by Teagan gulping down the rest of her water. To Garrus' surprise, once her glass was empty she stood up with it grasped in her hand.

"I think I'm going to get some more water from the kitchen, if that's okay," she said, "I'll be gone for a couple of minutes."

Garrus touched her arm. "Teagan, you don't have to go."

"I know. It's okay. It'll give you the two of you a chance to have some time alone. Besides, I really am thirsty."

He studied her face, trying to work out what she was thinking. But he couldn't. It was clear enough that this situation was making her feel uncomfortable. Beyond that though, he had no idea what was going on behind the darkness of her brown eyes. He could only hope that she wasn't too upset by Solana's rather cold reaction to their relationship. He'd brought Teagan here with him because he'd thought it would be a nice experience for her, not an ordeal that would leave her more stressed out than before.

The very last thing he wanted was for her to get scared off again because of his own sister. It didn't even bear thinking about.

He let go of her arm reluctantly. "Don't take too long, Teagan."

"I won't, Garrus."

With that, she turned away from him and he was left staring at her back as she walked out into the hallway.

As soon as Teagan had left, Solana rose up to her feet and sealed the living room door. She didn't lock it, but Garrus still didn't much appreciate the action. He felt like they were caged in together now while Teagan had been left on the other side of the bars, alone in a house she barely knew.

"Did you really need to do that, Solana?" he asked.

She walked back over to her chair and sat down. "Your mate left so we could talk in private, so that's what we're going to do."

"Fine then. Go ahead and say whatever you want."

"Honestly, Garrus, I'm not sure where to start."

"That certainly makes a change."

She gave a strange kind of half-laugh. "Dad's going to love this you know. All those times you turned down introductions to eligible turian women."

"We don't talk anymore so it hardly matters. I want to know what you think about this."

"I just don't know, Garrus," she said eventually, "I'm shocked. She's your Commander and I definitely don't get the whole human thing, but she seems…okay I suppose. Well, from the two words she's said to me so far. Are you happy with her?"

"Yeah, very happy."

It was such an understatement. Nothing could compete with the happiness he felt when he was alone with her. Not nailing a perfect headshot from fifty metres away on the battlefield. Not finally getting the Normandy's guns to run at optimum capacity after hours of work. Things like that just gave him a temporary high which faded away again seconds later. However, he didn't think Sol would particularly enjoy it if he started harping on and on about how great Teagan was like a boy with his first real crush so he left his answer at those three words.

Solana looked at him with wide eyes. "Spirits, Garrus, did you realise what a sappy expression you had on your face a second ago? You really are crazy about her, aren't you?" She sounded genuinely surprised. "I never thought you'd let someone get close to you like that. What's so special about her?"

He knew he could never put it into words, so he simply said, "I just like everything about her."

"But can you…I mean how do you…" Solana's voice trailed off, leaving the sentence unfinished, but Garrus had a bad feeling he already knew what she was trying to ask. He immediately started praying to some spirit or other that he was wrong. Surely, she didn't want to know about _that_ side of their relationship.

Unfortunately, when she started to speak again, it became clear that she did. "I thought turians and humans were allergic to each other and she looks so squishy. How the hell do you…well, you know what I'm talking about, Garrus."

"We're not allergic to each other and she's not squishy all over," he said, speaking more quickly than usual. "Now, can we please just leave it at that."

A thought suddenly seemed to occur to her. "Did you like humans that way before her and just not tell me?"

"No…it's hard to explain. I don't look at her and see a human. She's just Teagan, my mate who happens to be a different species from me."

"Are you in love with her?"

He nodded.

...

While Garrus and Solana sat talking in the comfort of the living room, Teagan stood in the cold kitchen filling her glass with water at the sink. Finding her way back to the kitchen alone without Garrus to guide her had not been as easy as she'd thought it would be. The house was huge and the fact that most of the doors were sealed hadn't helped matters. But she'd found her way eventually.

A splash of water suddenly hit her hand and she realised the glass was overflowing. She pulled it away from the sink before she could get too soaked and turned off the tap.

Even though she now had what she'd come into the kitchen for, she had no intention of leaving yet. She would stay in her self-imposed exile for a little while longer. That way Garrus and Solana would have a proper chance to talk and she could have more time to collect herself.

She set the glass down on the draining board and then simply stood leaning against one of the countertops. She'd been so happy when she was in here earlier with Garrus. So happy in fact that she'd made a bit of a fool of herself, acting like the sort of person who ends up rifling through other people's bathroom cabinets. She really had loved being shown round his old home and finding out more about his childhood. They'd ended up discussing things he'd probably never shared with anyone before. Now Solana was here, there was no chance of them having any more intimate conversations together. Instead they were spending their time being cross-examined by her. As soon as she went back to the living room, Teagan was certain she'd have to endure yet more of her scrutiny. It almost felt like she was waiting in the wings before walking out on stage under the bright glare of a spotlight.

Her eyes moved over to the large window that was set over the sink, seeking out some sort of reassuring sight amongst the bright colours of the garden. As her eyes travelled over the plants, however, she began to experience a creeping feeling like something out there was watching her.

It turned out that something was. Sitting about ten metres down the garden was the same awful bird that had swooped over her head when she'd first arrived at the house. It was perched on top of a tall, orange bush, staring right at her with its black, beady little eyes.

Earlier, Garrus had identified the bird as a rengal and acted as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. However, Teagan couldn't help thinking that it looked like a creature that had flown straight out of an old Earth horror movie and landed on Palaven. Perhaps that had something to do with the sharp expression it was wearing on its ugly face. The way it continued to stare at her made her feel so…unwelcome, as if the bird resented her presence in the house as much as Solana seemed to.

To be fair though, Solana probably could have reacted even worse to the news that her big brother was involved in an interspecies relationship. She was hardly going to welcome Teagan with wide, open arms when she knew almost nothing about her. And, as a person, she didn't seem all _that_ bad. She was just as brash and blunt as Teagan had expected her to be from what she'd read in the Shadow Broker's lair. However, underneath it all, it was clear how pleased she was to see Garrus again. Teagan liked knowing that at least one member of his family did care about him very much. After everything she'd now heard about his father and their highly complicated relationship, it was almost a relief. She just hoped that the deep affection Solana felt for her brother would, in time, bring her to accept his romantic involvement with a human.

Clinging onto that thought, Teagan tore her eyes away from the window. The rengal was still watching her, but she decided to pay it no further heed. It was just a common bird that had taken up residence in the garden of the house. Rather than wasting time by continuing to have some kind of strange staring contest with it, she needed to return to the living room. There was no reason why she couldn't cope with this situation after all. She'd told Garrus that she was in love with him despite her fears. She'd stayed with him for weeks now. She no longer wasted hours wondering when she would lose him or picturing him lying in a pool of dark blue blood on Omega, choking out his breaths. She'd been doing so well and she did love him. God, she loved him so much. Everything seemed a little better when he was there, whether they were on a mission or back on the Normandy. Given the chance, she would spend every waking moment with him, as well as every second of sleep. She could never remember sleeping as well as she did when was lying in his strong arms, surrounded by his woody scent.

With the glass of water clutched firmly in her hand, she began to head towards the kitchen door. When she had almost made it out into the hallway, however, she caught sight of her reflection in the silver metal of one of kitchen cabinets and paused again for a moment. Dear God, she looked awful. Fair enough, the metal was warping her reflection, twisting her face into an odd shape, but she could still see how deathly pale she was. Her only comfort was that Solana, as a turian, probably wouldn't realise just how much of a mess she looked.

At least a couple more minutes passed before Teagan found her way back to the living room. She ended up standing just outside of the now-sealed door, unsure of when exactly to make her entrance. Behind it, she could hear Garrus and Solana talking in low voices. Although Teagan couldn't make out every word they were saying, they seemed to be getting on okay with each other.

Eventually there was a lull in the conversation. Teagan decided it was probably safe enough to go back in and strode forward. Once she'd reached the centre of the room, she made a big show of setting her full glass down on the coffee table beside the discarded bowls of food as if that would somehow make the excuse for her exit seem believable.

She then sat down beside Garrus, leaving no space between their two bodies.

...

Garrus smiled at Teagan as she returned to his side, partly out of sheer, unadulterated relief. She'd been gone for longer than he'd expected. "I was starting to worry that you'd somehow got lost."

She laughed in a slightly nervous way. "I, ah, actually did on the way there."

"You…got lost in a two storey house?"

"Yeah. Apparently, I have no sense of direction."

Before Garrus could give into the temptation to tease Teagan some more, Solana was talking and the conversation was forced back onto serious matters again. "At least you found your way in the end. While you were gone, I was trying to find out some more information about your relationship with my brother. I was about to ask him how exactly this whole thing with you started. Well, since you're both here now, is one of you going to explain?

There was little to no chance of her letting this go, but Garrus wasn't immediately sure how to answer her. He and Teagan had hardly had a traditional turian courtship so far and there had been major bumps along the way. He supposed that you could say it started that day in the main battery when Teagan had suddenly offered to blow off steam with him. However, their relationship was not some casual, meaningless thing like that story might suggest. He didn't want to sell it short.

"It just kind of happened, Sol," he said in the end, deciding that he needed to give some sort of answer before poor Teagan felt like she had to. "We got close when we started working together again. We spent a lot of time going out on missions together and just hanging about with each other back on the ship. I suppose we were still only friends at first, but it became something more than that."

He smiled at Teagan when he'd finished speaking and for a second she smiled back in a way that made his heart hammer inside of his armoured chest.

He had almost forgotten that Sol was there until she spoke again. "How sweet, you managed to fall for each other in between getting shot at and killing things."

"I guess that's true," he said.

"And now you're here together." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "It would all make a good plot for some trashy romance novel."

Garrus wasn't sure if she was being sincere or sarcastic. Knowing her, it was probably a mix of both. "Ah…thanks, Sol."

She shrugged. "Sure. I wish you'd told me about this sooner, Garrus, but I suppose I can get used to my big brother being a xenophile if I try. At the very least, this bit of news is less of a shock then finding out you'd been badly injured as soon I saw you." She glanced at Teagan, not in an unfriendly way, but not in particularly friendly way either. "You don't have any other big surprises in store for me, do you, Garrus? You haven't got a cybernetic limb or joined a cult?"

"No, I think that's it really."

"Thank the spirits."

It didn't escape Garrus' notice that she sounded genuinely relieved. "So…" he said, "Are you, ah, seeing anyone at the moment, Solana?"

In the past, her answer would have always been yes. Solana had never had any problem attracting males. Garrus usually came back home on shore leave to find out she had a new mate in her life. None of her relationships had ever been remotely serious, but his overprotective side had been brought out once or twice because she was seeing guys that in his opinion were unsuitable jackasses.

This time, however, she shook her head. "No, no. I'm far too busy for that kind of thing right now."

Garrus frowned. He knew things had changed for her, but everything she'd said about herself today was hammering home just how different her life had become. It did not make him feel good.

However, she was speaking again before he had a chance to respond in any way to her last comment. "I don't mind being on my own at the moment. It means I have more time to visit mom for one thing. I would hate it if I wasn't able to drop in on her every day**.** Speaking of mom, Garrus, when are you planning to see her?"

"Uh…I was thinking of visiting her sometime this afternoon."

"So was I. Maybe we should go together since you've never been to the medical centre before?"

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." He paused for a moment. "What exactly have you told her about where I've been over the last year?"

"Nothing too specific. Sometimes her memory's fine, but other days it's not so great so I like to keep things simple. I just said that you were serving with Shepard again, but then you hadn't told me much more than that before today anyway. She's been looking forward to seeing you, Garrus. She'll be so pleased when you arrive up with me." She gave a wide, real smile as she finished speaking.

"When should we leave for the centre, Sol?"

"Fairly soon probably. She tends to feel better earlier in the day so I usually visit her at around this time or straight after work. By evening she's often quite tired."

"Right," he agreed.

"You know what; I may as well go ahead and call us a cab now. There's no real point hanging around in this house anymore since we've already eaten and started to get caught up with each other. Unless you want to stay for longer, Garrus?"

He shook his head. He couldn't think of any reason to stay, but, strangely, he found himself wishing that he could.

"Great. We'll probably be at the centre in about thirty minutes. You're sure that's all okay with you?"

"Yeah," he replied, though really this was all moving too fast for his liking. He was about to jump from one momentous reunion to another with no pause in between. This morning he'd been alone with Teagan at their hotel, but now he was sitting with his sister in his old living room and in less than half an hour he would be at the medical centre with his would see all the changes that time and her disease had wrought in her during the last couple of years.

He wasn't sure if he was ready for that yet.

However, Solana, as impulsive as usual, was already getting to her feet. "I'll be right back," she said and then walked straight out into the hallway.

A few moments after she'd left, Garrus was still staring at the open living room door. Although he was now alone with Teagan again, he couldn't seem to think of anything sensible to say to her. She didn't speak either. Instead, she simply sought out his hand, squeezing it tightly with her five small fingers. He squeezed right back.

...

**I'm thinking the next chapter of this fic isn't going to be any easier to put together than this one was because I'll be trying to write Garrus' mother as well. I'm tentatively hoping to update in three weeks' time, but I'm not so sure if I'll be able to meet the deadline this time. I'm going on holiday to Wales for a week (how exotic!) so it might be a few days late. I'll try my best to post it soon after I arrive back home.**

**Wish me luck!**

**Thanks again for reading :)**


	5. The waiting game

**I'm a little late with this update so please accept my apologies for that. I hope the length of this chapter will make up for my tardiness a little. It has somehow ended up being even longer than the last one.**

**In this chapter, I've introduced Garrus' mother for the first time. I just want to say here that I've based her condition (Corpalis Syndrome) on the symptoms of a number of different human neurological conditions and it's not intended resemble any one thing too closely. **

**Thanks to everyone who has put this on alert or favourited the story and a big thanks to anyone who has been kind enough to review. It's all very much appreciated. This fic now has more alerts on it after four chapters than Home ever managed to get which is just crazy :)**

**Also, I never seem to remember to thank people for putting me on author alert or on their favourite author list so…thanks, very belatedly in most cases!**

**Note: I'm now using a series of full stops to divide sections because this site keeps eating the dividers I try to put in when I hit save. It's also occasionally eating bits of my sentences so if you notice one that makes no sense, that's probably why!**

…

Stuck between Teagan and Solana in a tiny cab, Garrus tried his best to sit back and relax. He was finding this a rather difficult undertaking, however, given that no-one was currently speaking. In fact, both Teagan and Solana were staring out of the taxi windows rather than attempting to make conversation with him or each other.

So far this journey was shaping up to be one of the worst that he'd ever had the misfortune of experiencing. Really, only one recent, completely disastrous shuttle trip could rival it. Even all the countless hours he'd spent in the Mako trying to keep his lunch down while Teagan demonstrated her driving 'skills' on uncharted planets hadn't come close to being this uncomfortable. At least then people had kept cracking jokes and laughing as the flimsy tin can they were travelling in tumbled over mountain tops and sped towards cliff edges.

Garrus wished he was in the middle of talking to Teagan now. She had a look on her face which made him think that she wasn't even sure if she should be in the taxi. Perhaps she could have made her way back to their hotel alone, but she didn't know Vectis well and it would be so easy for a human tourist to get lost amongst the city's sprawling streets. In any case, Garrus preferred to keep her by his side. When the cab had first arrived at the house, Teagan had actually asked if it would be best for him and Solana to go to the centre alone, but he'd simply said no and pulled her along with him. He wanted to tell her straight out just how glad he was to have her there. Unfortunately, he didn't feel able to with Solana sitting right on his other side.

To make matters worse, every time the cab metre beeped, breaking the silence that had gathered over them all, Garrus felt a fresh surge of anxiety because he knew he was another quarter of a mile closer to seeing his mother again. He'd come back to Palaven with the express aim of visiting her, but now he was actually on his way to her, he was losing his nerve in a way he never did in battle. Bullets could be raining down all around him while grenades exploded into bright flashes of fire and debris and it wouldn't rattle him. He'd just keep firing, keep fighting the good fight.

Most people would have been able to cope with visiting their sick mother far more easily than engaging in pitched battles where their very lives were at stake, but apparently not him.

He just didn't know what to expect when they finally got to the centre. Sol had said their mother wasn't doing great but that didn't tell him everything. He wondered just how ill she would look, if her amber coloured eyes would still glow with warmth and intelligence like they had used to whenever she was lost in the middle of a good conversation or in the throes of a heated debate.

When he'd last seen her, although it was obvious that she was sick, the same person he remembered and loved was still definitely there. They'd been able to spend a fair amount of time simply talking to one another and he'd felt as close to her as he ever had done. However, he was all too aware of how much things could change in two short years.

He just hoped he was going to find that time had been kind to his mother.

….

Somehow or other, Garrus managed to make it through the rest of the journey even though his fellow passengers remained silent. Twenty minutes after they'd first climbed into the taxi, it came to a stop in the large, grey courtyard of the medical centre.

From a distance, the centre looked as if it was made out of a series of square, white blocks with windows that had been stuck together. Although the building as a whole was large, it was rather squat and flat when compared to the tall stone towers which dominated Vectis' skyline. Garrus supposed that the centre had been designed that way deliberately so that the place would seem more welcoming to patients and visitors alike. However, he couldn't help thinking that instead it had simply ended up looking like its growth had somehow been stunted during its construction.

In an attempt to give the centre a little more character, tall, springy trees had been planted around the outside of it. A series of sculptures and fountains also lined the completely straight stone path which led up to the front entrance.

The place wasn't ugly, but Garrus still didn't care much for it. Perhaps the truth was that he would have ended up disliking the sight of the centre no matter what it looked like. The very fact that he was here meant that his mother's condition was deteriorating far faster than he had hoped.

Left to his own devices, Garrus probably would have sat reflecting on all of this for longer, but he felt Teagan touch his arm and he realised that Solana had already left the cab. Despite all of his misgivings, about this place, about the visit itself, it was time to go.

He climbed out through the passenger door with Teagan. Almost as soon as they were both standing out in the courtyard, the taxi took off, moving away from the centre at what was probably an illegally fast speed. Watching it go, Garrus felt a stab of envy, almost wishing he could switch places with the driver and complete the boring day of work he had ahead of him.

"Hey, Garrus," Solana said, "Can we go now or are you just going to keep standing there, staring off into space?"

"Uh…we can go," he replied, because, really, there was nothing else he could say.

"Good."

She immediately started to head towards the entrance of the medical centre which was lying in wait for them fifty metres down the stone path. Garrus followed her and so did Teagan; they didn't seem to have much choice in the matter.

A few seconds later they were all passing through a set of automatic doors and into some sort of lobby area. Solana just kept going, leading them across the lobby and into a long white corridor that was lined with numerous doorways on both sides.

Walking down it behind Teagan and his sister, Garrus found himself wondering just how many patients the medical centre housed. Hundreds maybe. Many of them had probably served Hierarchy for years and worn themselves out working as soldiers, administrators, whatever before ending up here. It hardly seemed like a fitting reward for their unquestioning devotion and loyalty.

His own mother had spent most of her adult life helping to make laws that had kept people living across this city safe. Now she too was stuck in this hospital, while her family struggled to pay all of her medical bills. She would possibly live out the last of her days here if the off-world trial failed to improve her condition. Garrus just didn't want that for her.

True, this centre wasn't awful, like some of the crowded, dirty clinics he'd come across on Omega. They often appeared to have as many drug addicts looking for a free hit sitting in their dank waiting rooms as people with real medical problems. Even some of the genuine patients were criminals who'd been involved in a gun fight or pissed off someone they shouldn't have.

There were far worse places his mother could have ended up, he knew that, but still he couldn't warm to the centre at all. Both its outside and inside seemed so clinical and bland. In this corridor, plants in polished metal pots had been placed down on the floor at regular intervals. However, small, homely touches like that could do little to hide the fact that many people came to this centre for treatment and never got any better. It may as well have been painted in black letters across the walls which surrounded him, Teagan and Solana.

As they continued to move deeper and deeper into the centre, Garrus began to feel a ridiculous urge to look for the nearest emergency exit, but of course he didn't. He just kept following Solana through more sterile white corridors.

Eventually, she brought him and Teagan to the doors of a large elevator. Once they had all clambered inside its silver walls, Solana selected the button for the second floor and then inclined her head towards Garrus.

"What do you think of the place so far?" she asked.

Garrus didn't want to lie to her so he decided to keep his answer short and sweet. "It's okay, Sol. Very clean and, ah, white."

"'Clean' and 'white'? You're not sure of it, are you?"

"I just haven't seen much of it yet. That's all."

"I suppose it does take a bit of getting used to. It's not anything like home but it's the best place for mom right now. I still wish she was across the hall from me in her old room, but I just can't look after her the way the staff here can. If she had one of her seizures when I wasn't there or…well, I don't even want to think about it. This place specialises in treating her kind of neurological condition so she's in good hands. The best Vectis has to offer."

"I know. You did the right thing in bringing her here."

Solana smiled at him for a moment, but then fell as silent as Teagan while the elevator continued its ascent. When it stopped on the second floor, they all climbed out of it together and passed through one last white corridor before coming to a stop in a large lounge area with a reception desk.

"Mom's room is just a little further down there," Solana said, gesturing towards a doorway, before turning to Teagan and adding, "I don't mean to be rude, but I think it would be for the best for you to stay here for now so Garrus and mom have a proper chance to catch up."

Teagan nodded. "That's okay by me. I don't want to tread on anyone's toes…I mean I don't want to get in the way. Does that make sense to you too, Garrus?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Garrus said, speaking rather hesitantly even though he knew that it definitely did make sense. It would do no good to suddenly appear with his human mate in his sick mother's room as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. He was already going to have to try to explain away his scars to her as soon as they came face to face. Still, a part of him desperately wanted Teagan to come with him.

At that moment he didn't care that dragging her along with him would mean he was leaning on her far more than usual. Nor was he bothered by the fact that itwasn't very turian of him to want his mate to hold his hand through all of this. Along with the near constant talk of honour and duty, his father had tried to drum home to him the importance of turians always remaining strong and together. But he didn't feel like he was either of those things right now and Teagan's presence at his side was always such a comfort to him.

There was no way around it though; at least for now she was going to have to stay behind in this limbo.

Garrus shot her a faint smile. "Are you gonna be okay here?

She smiled back, just as faintly. "I'm sure I'll find some way to entertain myself. I got through all those long elevator rides on the Citadel, didn't I?"

"True, but you did have my wonderful company for most of them."

"I think I can cope without you for a few minutes if I have to, though it will of course be terribly difficult. You go on. I hope it goes well, Garrus."

"Thanks."

He felt like he should say more to her before leaving, but a moment later Solana had set off again and he was being pulled along in her wake once more. He kept walking, putting one foot in front of the other, but he was paying no real attention to where the two of them were going.

In the end, they drew up to a door with the number 232 and the name Phadra Vakarian written on it. Garrus might have paused outside of it for a moment before entering but, as usual, Solana had other ideas. She went straight in, so he did too.

The room they came into was fairly large and simply furnished with a bed, a few comfy chairs, a couple of small tables, a desk and a wardrobe. Here and there a few ornaments were scattered about, including one small vase of flowers, but the surfaces were mostly bare. Everything was neatly arranged and dust-free.

His mother was sitting in front of the one of the room's two windows, looking somehow smaller than she had used to with a cotton blanket wrapped loosely round her shoulders. Even five years ago, there had been no reason for Garrus to think she would ever end up calling somewhere like this home. Back then, her work had still been going well, she'd at least appeared to be in good health and Corpalis Syndrome had yet to take her hold of her.

The condition, when it first started to develop, had shown itself in only very small ways that had been all too easy for Garrus to ignore on his occasional visits to Vectis. Solana, however, had begun to suspect something was wrong far sooner than him and had tried to tell him so. Living at home with their mother, she'd been able to see that her headaches, dizziness and occasional forgetfulness were symptoms of some more serious problem.

Eventually, when she had started to suffer from seizures as well, Garrus had also no longer been able to pretend that she was okay and had agreed with Solana that she should be sent for a proper medical investigation. He'd been on the Citadel, still working dedicatedly for C-Sec, when the diagnosis had finally been made. Solana had called him up and simply told him in a flat voice that the doctors were sure it was Corpalis Syndrome. He could remember hoping that they were somehow wrong. They weren't of course.

After being diagnosed, his mother had continued to slowly deteriorate. It had been near the start of the Collector mission, over a year after he'd last seen her, when Solana had first told him that she was no longer well enough to stay at home. She'd been living in this centre ever since then. Multiple attempts had been made to treat her condition in last few months of course, but they had all failed.

And so she was still here, sitting in a chair five feet from where Garrus was standing.

He wasn't sure how to greet her after not seeing her for such a long time. Simply saying "Hello" hardly seemed appropriate. In the end though, his small dilemma was solved by Solana speaking before he managed to.

"Hi, mom," she said, "I've got a special surprise for you with me today. Garrus has actually turned up! Mostly in one piece."

Their mother turned round to both of them and Garrus caught sight of her face for the first time. As he'd travelled through the hospital, his imagination had got so out of control, he'd begun to worry that she was going to appear almost husk-like. Instead, she simply looked older and so very tired.

She had certainly aged more in two short years than she probably should have done. The plates on her face had become more cracked and the skin around her neck was looser than it had been before. Thankfully though, that seemed to be the worst of it.

Phadra smiled at Garrus when her eyes fell on him. Or at least she did until she noticed his scars. A look of shock passed over her face as she took them in, but she recovered quickly. Her former career in government meant that she'd spent years learning how to master herself and control her emotions when she needed to. Apparently, even living in this centre hadn't made her forget those skills yet.

"Garrus," Phadra said, in the same deep yet soft voice he remembered, "It's been too long. Far too long. You've been injured and not told me."

Solana moved across the room to her. "He tells me he's okay, mom."

"I am okay," Garrus said quickly. "I, uh, had a bit of an accident. Well, not an accident exactly…all that matters is that I'm alright now."

"See? I think I'll give him the benefit of the doubt on this one." She placed one of her hands on their mother's chair and leant down towards her. "What about you, mom? Are you feeling alright today? I hope you've been taking it easy like you're supposed to. Three falls in the last two weeks is more than enough. You'll end up with broken plates all over you if you're not careful."

"I'm fine, Solana," she replied, "I have a slight headache today, but that's all.

"Another one?"

"Yes, but the nurse gave me some pain medication earlier."

"Are sure you don't mind us coming in like this?"

"Of course not," Phadra said firmly. "It's always good to see you, Solana, but I have to admit it's wonderful to have Garrus here as well."

Solana smiled. "I thought you would be pleased."

At the end of her sentence, they both looked at Garrus, but he wasn't sure what to say. Since coming in, he'd managed to utter three barely coherent sentences while Solana had dominated pretty much the whole short conversation.

Perhaps Solana realised this too because a moment later she said, "You know, it's been so long since the two of you have had a proper chance to talk, but I'm here all the time. Maybe I should go and give you some time alone together."

"You don't have to leave, Sol, if you don't want to," Garrus said.

"Yeah, I know that, but I really don't mind. The two of you probably have enough to discuss without me joining in as well. You both know how much I enjoy talking once I get started. I'll be back here tomorrow anyway."

"Thank you, Solana," Phadra said.

"Sure." She leant down and pressed her forehead to her mother's for a brief moment. "I'll see you very soon."

She shot Garrus a smile and then walked towards the door. "I'll be waiting for you back in that lounge, Garrus."

He nodded and with that she left the room, closing the door behind her.

There was silence for a moment, and then his mother spoke, "Are you really okay, Garrus? Those old wounds look like they were once quite serious."

"I guess I was a bit of a mess right after the, ah, accident, but I recovered." He moved deeper into the room and then leant against the desk which lay just to the left of where his mother was sitting. "I'm sorry I haven't been able to see you more lately…or send you more messages. I probably should have told you I'd been injured, but I didn't want to worry you."

"That's alright, Garrus, I suppose I can understand why you didn't say anything. I'm just very glad to have you with me now. It's so good of you to take time out of your busy schedule at C-Sec to come here."

Garrus looked at her with worry in his eyes, unsure of whether to correct her or not. She spoke again before he had decided what to do, "I got that wrong, didn't I? You'll have to bear with me, I make small slips sometimes." She sounded embarrassed. "You serving on a ship now, aren't you? Solana told me, I think. It's a human vessel, not a turian one."

"Yeah that's right," he said, unable to keep the relief from his voice.

"Good. I usually get there in the end." She smiled. "It's nothing to worry about though. Trust me, there are other patients far worse than me in this centre. I can't help but feel sorry for them."

"But you're happy enough staying here for now?"

"Yes. I miss home and going out to work sometimes but I've gotten used to my new life here now. It's not as exciting as arguing with politicians on a daily basis, but then few things are. I suppose it is a lot better for my stress levels." She let out a hearty laugh. "I still try to keep up with what's going on out there through the extranet and newspapers, but it does feel strange to have gone from helping to make the news to just reading it."

"I suppose it would."

"Mm. Well, things inevitably change. That's how life is. Besides, it was me who made the final decision to come here, not Solana. I could see how much strain looking after me was putting her under and the home help she was paying for was expensive and, ironically, not all that helpful. I want her to have her own family, not spend years just waiting on me. She should have her own life like you do, Garrus, on that ship. I want the two of you to be happy and I'm absolutely fine here."

"You're being looked after well then?"

"Oh yes. I should hope so too, given the cost of this place. It's not all covered unfortunately. It's been an expensive few weeks." She paused. "No, that's wrong, it's not weeks anymore. I've been here for months, haven't I?"

"Yeah. I think it's been more than half a year now."

"I'm sure you're right." She sounded embarrassed again. "The days, they tend to bleed together here."

"But you really have settled in okay?"

"Yes, for the most part."

For the next few minutes, the two of them simply sat together talking about her day to day life in the centre. She stumbled over little details every now and then, but for the most part was able to answer Garrus' questions with relative ease. She even joked about the place and its little routines. In particular, she poked fun at the couple of kindly but misguided staff members who would sometimes talk to her as if she was a small child left in their care rather than a retired government official. Occasionally, her eyes started to glow in the same he remembered, but the light was duller now, like embers of a fire that had partly died out.

Eventually, she seemed to tire and the glow disappeared completely, though she still tried to keep the conversation going.

"Enough about me and this place for now," she said. "Though I do appreciate you humouring me for as long as you did. I don't want to keep going and bore you so much that you don't ever want to come back."

He knew she was joking, but he still shook his head. "That definitely won't happen."

"Thank you for saying that, Garrus, but I've barely given you a chance to talk about yourself so far. What's life like on your ship? It's been so long since I completed my military service that I'm afraid my own memories of space travel have become rather hazy."

"Oh," he replied, "It's good. The Normandy's a great vessel and its crew don't seem to mind that I'm a turian even though most of them are human."

"You're keeping safe enough now, I hope. I'd hate for you to get injured again."

"Well, I don't end up in the med-bay too often. I'm always careful out in the field and the Normandy's Commander, Shepard, does whatever she can to keep me and the rest of the crew safe."

"I'm glad to hear it. What exactly is your current mission with her?"

That question had been bound to come up at some point, but it still made him feel uncomfortable. He was most certainly not going to tell his sick mother about the reapers and the threat they posed to the galaxy when he hadn't even told his healthy, lively sister. "Uh…it's probably best if I'm not too specific. We're just trying to keep people out there safe any way we can."

"That sounds rather exciting."

"It is sometimes."

"I'm not going to get much more out of you about the mission, am I?" She sounded more amused than annoyed. "I'd ask about what you do in your spare time next, but I suppose that, as usual, you have no time for anything apart from work."

He couldn't stop himself from shaking his head because of how wrong she was about that one thing. His mind flashed to all the countless hours he'd spent in Teagan's quarters recently, talking with her, watching crappy vids on her TV, making love to her.

Work still mattered to him, it mattered a lot, but some other things mattered more.

"Ah, actually I've been trying to relax a bit more lately," he said.

"Good. I've always thought that there's no need for anyone to work themselves so hard that they leave no time to have fun. Even the great Hierarchy doesn't demand that." She smiled at him, but he noticed that the rest of her face had become rather strained.

"Are you…okay?" he asked after a long, rather awkward pause, even though he was worried about what her answer was going to be.

"To be honest, my headache is flaring up again. I guess my pain meds are wearing off."

"You look tired too."

"Well, I still feel awake enough, Garrus."

He wished he could believe her. "Why do I get the impression that you're trying to play this all down?"

"I'm not." She brought one of her hands up to rub the right side of her head. "Not really. I'm used to getting these headaches. There's no need for you to worry."

"Mom…look, you keep saying that, but I know you've been having a bit of a hard time lately. Solana told me that the treatments haven't been working well and that you've had to sign up for a medical trial the salarians are running."

"What medical trial?"

"You know, the one on the off-world centre."

Frowning, she rubbed her head again, harder this time. "Oh, of course, how stupid of me, I remember now. We both just thought it might be worth a try. If it doesn't work then I'm okay, Garrus_. _It's not as if I'm preparing to give the Hierarchy my final salute. I have more life in me yet and the pain's not bad most of the time."

"But I can tell it's bad now. Is there anything I can do to help you?"

"Well, I might feel a little better if I was lying down. I hate to ask, but could you help me over to the bed. I sometimes get dizzy when one of these headaches comes on."

He immediately leant down towards her and pulled her gently to her feet. She felt so light to him. Possibly almost as light as Teagan and she was a human with no plates, only soft flesh, bone and skin.

Even with his mother's full weight resting on his arm he had no trouble moving her to the bed and helping her climb onto it. After she had settled herself into a comfortable position, she turned towards him again. "Would you also hit that red button over there? It will call one of the nurses."

"You need a nurse?" he asked unable to keep the raw concern from his voice.

"Yes, but only because I could do with taking some more pain medication. I'll probably be completely fine again in an hour or two."

"Right, okay."

He reached over and pressed the call button and then simply collapsed into the chair closest to her bed at a loss for what to do next. He had so much more that he needed to talk to her about before leaving Palaven in less than a week's time. In some ways, he actually found himself wanting to tell her about Teagan and what she had come to mean to him. Out of all of the members of his messed up family, his mother was the one he'd thought from the start was most likely to react well to his new relationship. He'd made a lot of decisions in the past that most good turians would have balked at, but she'd always done her best to be understanding. Even when he'd told her that he'd left C-Sec to run off with a human on a mission to hunt down a rogue spectre, her main concern had simply been that he didn't put himself in too much unnecessary danger.

If their conversation had kept going as well as it had seemed to at the start, then it might have been possible for him to tell her about Teagan today and get it all over with. But no. He couldn't possibly try to talk to her about something so serious right now. Not when she felt like this.

"Should I go, mom?" he asked. "I can stay if you want, but I don't want to make things worse by being here."

He could see that she was finding it quite hard to hold herself together and, like him, she'd never been the type of person who felt comfortable showing their weaknesses in front of other people.

To his surprise though, when she eventually replied, she made it clear that she didn't want him to go. "I'd like you stay for a few more minutes, Garrus," she said, "Just until the nurse comes. It's been so long since I've seen you and I want this visit to last a bit longer. I hope you don't mind."

Of course he didn't mind. He smiled at her and leant back in the chair so she would know that he had no desire to leave. After a moment or two, they both began to stare out the window, rather than looking at each other, but Garrus offered her his hand and she took it.

Over the years, she'd cared for him many times when he'd been ill. Once as an eight year old, he'd been left bed ridden for a day after catching some awful virus that had given him a burning fever and caused a rash to break out all over his skin. His father, though concerned had gone to work as usual, doing his duty as a good turian citizen. His mother, on the other hand, had stayed by his bedside for hours despite how busy she was. She'd told him stories until he no longer felt so warm and his skin ceased to tingle and sting.

He'd always known that as she got older the parent-child relationship might begin to turn on its head, but he felt as if it was happening too soon.

Way too soon.

….

Teagan stood in front of the lounge's only window, hoping that Garrus was still okay as she stared out at the small roof terrace which lay beyond the glass. He'd been gone for five or ten minutes already and she'd spent much of that time wondering how his reunion with his mother was going. The rest of the medical centre was moving all around her, but she had become like a fixed point on its second floor. Every now and then, a doctor or nurse in a crisp, white uniform would stride past her still body. Some of them seemed to view her with open curiosity, probably because they were wondering what a human was doing in the centre.

Well, quite frankly, a part of her was too. She'd come here because Garrus had wanted her to, but she didn't feel like she had been of much help to him. Actually that was an understatement; she'd been completely useless so far and had ended up separating off from him and Solana.

She didn't mind being left behind in itself. That decision had seemed to make sense at the time. However, there were so many places she would rather have been standing alone in than this centre. She'd found it hard to feel completely at ease in hospitals ever since she'd been deposited, dazed and exhausted, in one after surviving the raid on Mindoir. Aged just 16, she'd spent two weeks with only medical staff and the other wounded colonists for company while she tried to come to terms with the end of her old, happy life.

A single other visitor was sharing the lounge with her now. Behind where she was standing, a male turian with similar coloured facial markings to Garrus was sitting with a datapad in his hand. He seemed to be waiting to talk to someone, but she had no idea who.

Earlier, she had thought briefly about going over and speaking with him, but really what was the point? She supposed she could make small talk about the weather with him, but even after being with Garrus she wasn't sure if that was a common topic of conversation for turians. She also had no idea how to comment on the weather on this planet since it seemed to be dry and as hot as hell the whole damn time.

On a table to the left of her, lay a few printed magazines and a misplaced health leaflet with a picture of some horrible looking skin condition on the front cover. The magazines had clearly been put out to keep anyone stuck in this room entertained, but as they were all written in turian, Teagan didn't see much point in flicking through one.

There was nothing else for her to do but keep looking out of the window while trying her best not to get too worked up. It wouldn't be all that long until Garrus would return after all. Once that happened, she would know if he was okay and they could leave this place.

When footsteps suddenly came from behind her after another couple of minutes had passed, she felt hopeful for moment that he was already coming back until she realised they were too light to belong to him.

Whoever it was, however, was definitely heading in her direction. They stopped a few paces from her and then offered up a single word of greeting, "Shepard."

Teagan turned round and found Solana standing in front of her. She was glad that she was calling her Shepard now, rather than Commander, but she could not have honestly said that she was pleased to see her. She still got the sense that Solana didn't know what to make of her presence in her brother's life. And now he wasn't here, but they both were.

Solana looked so much like him, and not just because of their matching facial markings, but their personalities seemed to be so different. Being with Garrus usually made Teagan feel relaxed and happy. She doubted that Solana's company was going to have the same effect on her any time soon.

"Hi, Solana," she said, "How come you're back here on your own?"

"I thought I'd leave Garrus alone with our mother so they could talk in private," she replied. "And I also realised it would give us a chance to chat. Garrus told me a lot about you while you were getting that, ah, glass of water, but I'd like to know more."

As Solana stood waiting for her to respond, Teagan actually considered saying that she wanted to get another drink and something to eat to avoid talking to her alone. She could probably waste a good fifteen minutes searching for a vending machine stocked with levo food in this huge centre and she was genuinely hungry. Starving in fact.

Even though it would involve wandering alone through the halls of a hospital and mean that she probably wouldn't be here when Garrus came back, the idea of getting a cold drink and a bar of chocolate was suddenly tempting. Very, very tempting.

But she made no such excuse in the end. If she was serious about staying in Garrus' life, then she was going to have to try to get closer to his sister.

"We can talk if you want," she said, trying hard to smile.

"Good."

"But if we're going to get to know each other then you should probably call me Teagan rather than Shepard."

She knew that Solana would have no idea how hard it was for her to suggest that. Until recently, she'd been known only as Shepard by everyone in her life. Even now, only Garrus called her Teagan. Kasumi, by far her closest female friend on the Normandy, still addressed her by her surname or simply as Shep.

However, she felt that giving Solana permission to use her given name was an important gesture for her to make, even if she was the only one who would fully understand it.

Solana gave a small, tight nod. "Alright…I suppose that makes sense since you've been my brother's mate for a while now."

"I think so too," Teagan said.

"I knew as soon as I saw my brother look at you that you the two of you were together, you know. Not that either of you seemed to make much of an attempt to hide it. I'd never seen him look at anyone that way before. It was…strange. He obviously cares about you a lot. You feel the same way, don't you?"

"Yes. Of course I do, Solana."

"And things have been going okay between you so far?"

"Yes." Teagan smiled. "Better than okay."

"Garrus seemed to think that too. I'm glad to hear it's working so well for both of you. I would've thought a relationship between a commander and one of their subordinates could be quite problematic."

Solana's tone became slightly harder as she said the last sentence, attracting the attention of the male turian who was still sitting in the lounge. His eyes left his datapad for a moment and travelled over both of them.

Teagan tried to ignore him. "Problematic? What do you mean?"

"Well, for starters, you have to go out on missions together where you and only you are in charge. That can't be easy. I also imagine your relationship could cause resentment among the rest of the crew."

"Well, it's not like we stand in the corridors holding hands. It really hasn't caused any problems yet. Your brother's too professional for that. So am I."

"Good. You probably already have enough stacked against you without issues like that making things harder."

Teagan's brow furrowed. "You mean because he's a turian and I'm not."

"Yes." Her voice was rather crisp. "You just don't see many humans with turians. It's certainly not a conventional choice the two of you have made. It could be difficult for you both at times."

"We'll get through it," Teagan said simply. She was finding it increasingly difficult for to keep her tone friendly. Solana was entitled to ask a few questions, of course she was, given the unusual situation, but Teagan felt like she was under investigation. No doubt, Solana could have followed her father and brother into C-Sec had she wanted to.

Her green eyes were the worst thing, searching Teagan's face in a strange, sharp way that Garrus' never had.

"Solana, look," Teagan said after a short pause, "I know that you've been going through a hard time and I really am sorry that this has all been such a shock for you, but I don't think I should have to stand here and justify my relationship with your brother. We're together and it seems to be working for us; it's that simple. I really don't want to fight with you, but I have a bad feeling that that's where we might be heading right now. I think we can get along just fine if we just both make an effort. So let's do that. It'll be far easier for Garrus if we can stay on good terms with each other."

For a few agonising seconds, Solana remained silent. Finally, she said, "I'm not trying to pick a fight with you, Teagan. Really. I'm sorry if I seemed…aggressive. I can get carried away sometimes, but you need to understand, I didn't expect this at all. I didn't think Garrus had a mate, let alone a human one. I just want what's best for him."

"So do I, Solana."

Their eyes met for a long moment. "Okay," Solana said. "I think I can believe that."

"Good."

Solana gestured towards some chairs in a darker corner of the room. "Let's go sit down over there and talk to each other properly. We could do with having a bit more privacy than we do now."

She certainly wasn't wrong about single male turian in the lounge had now abandoned all pretence of reading and was sitting with his datapad dangling in his hands while he watched the two of them. In truth, Teagan wasn't really surprised that they had attracted his attention. The story being acted out in front of him would probably have interested most potential viewers, revolving as it did around an unlikely inter-species romance.

He continued to stare at them as they moved across the room so Teagan shot him a smile and he finally turned away, embarrassed.

Once they had reached the corner, they sat down so that they were facing each other. Rather than speaking herself, Teagan simply stayed still and waited, calmly enough, for whatever Solana decided to say next.

"You really do care about my brother a lot, don't you?" she said after a long moment of silence, "I mean you must do to come all the way to Palaven with him."

"I love him," Teagan said.

Undeniably, it felt very strange to admit that so casually to someone when she'd found it so hard to even tell him at first. However, she decided the three words needed to be said.

"Really?"

"Really. Does…that surprise you?"

"No, not exactly. I'm just finding it hard to understand this whole thing between the two of you and I don't mean simply because you're a human. As far as I know, he's never had anything other than casual mates before."

"It's my first serious relationship too," she said awkwardly**.** "But we, uh, just seem to make sense together. I think your brother's pretty great. He's always stood by me, no matter what's happened."

Solana raised her brow plates in a slightly amused way that Teagan had seen Garrus do many times before. "That's nice to hear, Teagan, but I think you may be overselling him just a tad. He can be a real handful. Growing up in the same house as him wasn't always easy."

Teagan let out a small, nervous laugh. "I have my faults too. Everyone does."

"I guess you're right. Tell me more about yourself, Teagan. I mean, if you don't mind."

"What exactly do you want to know?"

She was well aware that most people would probably have just launched into a long and boring spiel about themselves, but, quite frankly, she had no idea where to start.

For obvious reasons, she found talking about much of her past more painful than anything else. With Garrus' help, she had at least begun to try to move on from what had happened on Mindoir and then on Akuze, but that didn't mean she felt comfortable discussing any of it with someone she barely knew.

"Well," Solana replied, "Where did you grow up for starters?"

"Mindoir," Teagan said simply.

"Mindoir? I thought that colony was destroyed by batarians or something. I must be misremembering. Human history isn't one of my strongpoints."

"You're half-right. The colony wasn't destroyed. The batarians just raided it, killed a load of people and then left. It happened when I was still living there as a teenager. I…lost my family. And my friends. I've only been back once since then."

"Oh, shit, I'm sorry," Solana said quickly, looking as if she might actually mean it. "I suppose I could say I understand how awful that must've been for you, but I don't. Not really. My mother's been sick for a while now, but at least she's still here with me."

"It must be hard for you though."

"Yeah, it is. But I'd rather not talk about it now. I still want to hear more about you, Teagan. What happened after...well, after you left Mindoir?"

"Oh." She paused to get her thoughts more together. "Well, I ended up staying in a children's home on another planet for a couple of years which I didn't enjoy much. Then I joined the Alliance. You're not expecting me to tell you my whole service history, are you?"

"Why not? You're my brother's mate and I still know almost nothing about you."

"Fine," she said, trying not to sound too reluctant. "But after I'm done talking about myself, I'd like to find out more about you."

"Deal."

Smiling weakly, Teagan resigned herself to answering more awkward, probing questions. All of this was pulling her out of her comfort zone to somewhere far less relaxing. However, she knew that for Garrus' sake she was going to have to do her best to get on with Solana. If that meant talking about her past until he was with them again then so be it.

….

The nurse came fairly quickly after Garrus summoned her to his mother's room. Almost as soon as she arrived, Phadra told him he could go and so he left her with a few final words of goodbye and a promise that he would return tomorrow.

Walking out of her door, he had every intention of heading straight back to the lounge. But he didn't make it very far. Not even out of the corridor in fact. He ended up leaning against the wall, reading an automated notice board which kept bringing up new messages about the services offered by the centre. There were no calibrations to distract him here so he seemed to have settled into different, mindless routine.

Soon, he had no idea how long he'd been standing there for. It could have been only five minutes. It could have been a hell of a lot longer.

All he could think about was his mother. She might have been worse, much worse, he knew that. But the change in her still shocked him. She'd once been the sharpest person he'd known, capable of winning an argument in only a few words, now her memory was failing her and she was plagued by headaches.

Seeing her had made him realise that she might never be able to return to who she once was. The off-world trial was not guaranteed to succeed after all.

He should have come to the centre far sooner, when she was first forced to move into it, not months and months later.

There had been good reasons why he hadn't of course. He'd been in the middle of a vital mission with no easy way of getting to Palaven and he hadn't wanted to place Solana or his mother in danger by attracting the attention of any of the Normandy's enemies to them. But he had found the time to chase after Sidonis.

He felt terrible; guilt and regret tugging angrily at him along with a deep sadness. If he was a human like Teagan, then he might have found some dark corner and let out a few tears. Of course as a turian, he was never going to be able to do that, but he almost wished he could. Although, Teagan didn't cry much - he'd only ever seen her do it when they were alone together - it often seemed to have an almost cathartic effect on her.

Teagan.

Through the haze, his mind focused in on her name. She'd been stranded in that lounge for ages now, waiting for him to return. He needed to get back to her. Solana was probably with her, but if so, that meant he needed to get moving even more urgently. In her current mood, he wasn't entirely sure if he trusted Solana to play nice with her for overly long.

Garrus allowed himself one final glance at his mother's door and then began to head in the direction of the lounge. Once there, he found his mate and his sister sitting together in one corner. He was happy to see that they appeared to be simply talking to one another rather than having some kind of blazing row.

As he came towards the two of them, Teagan noticed him first. She smiled at him straight away and that alone was enough to make him feel a little better. Solana, however, started to speak before Teagan could.

"Garrus, you're finally back," she said. "How did it go?"

"Alright at first I guess. But then mom's headache started to flare up again. We got to talk a bit, but not anywhere near as much as I would've liked." He caught Teagan's eye. "I, ah, didn't get to tell her about you Teagan. I'm going to come back tomorrow to see her again. For now though, there doesn't seem to be much point in me staying here."

"How bad was she?" Solana asked.

"I'm not sure. She called the nurse for some pain medication, but she kept telling not to worry."

She frowned. "I think I'll stay here for a little while longer, just to check on her. But I'll walk you and Teagan out if you want and show you where you can order a cab downstairs."

"Thanks, Sol," Garrus replied.

They began to trek back through the centre and its clean, white corridors towards the lobby. Teagan waited until Solana was looking the other way and then reached down and took Garrus' hand in hers. She didn't utter a single word, but then she didn't need to for him to understand that she was telling him, "I'm here for you".

Perhaps he was only imagining it, but he seemed to be able to feel where each of her fingertips had pressed into his hand long after she had let go and her arm was held limply by her side once more.

When they all made it out of the centre a few minutes later after booking a cab, Solana and Garrus paused just outside of the entrance while Teagan wandered further down the courtyard in the vague direction of one of the fountains. Although she made the move look casual, accidental even, Garrus knew she was giving him a chance to bid his sister goodbye in private. She didn't need to say that out loud either.

"Is something wrong, Garrus?" Solana asked from beside him. "You have a strange look on your face."

"I'm alright," he replied, "I just wish that visit had gone better."

She patted his arm. "Mom has off days, Garrus. But she has some good ones too. Hopefully she'll be feeling much better when you see her tomorrow." She paused. "Are you serious about telling her about your relationship with Shepard?"

"Yeah."

"Fair enough. I think she'd want to know.

"That's what I figured."

"Are you going to tell dad too?"

"Solana, you already know that we don't speak anymore."

"But you should like I keep telling you. He's not as bad as you think, Garrus. Okay, he doesn't come to see me and mom on Palaven much, but he does send money when he can to help. I know he overreacts to the whole rebel thing you've got going on, but that's just because he wants what's best for you. He's okay."

Garrus shook his head. "You don't understand what he's like with me. He was always harder on me then you."

"That's because you were his favourite, Garrus. His golden boy."

"Sol," he said firmly, "Forget about dad for now, I have more than enough on my mind already. What did you and Teagan talk about while I was gone?"

She visibly bristled, but seemed to decide not to take him on. At least not right now anyway. "Oh, a few things," she said.

"I hope you were your usual lovely self."

"Relax, Garrus, I just wanted to know more about her."

"And?" he asked tentatively.

"If you have to fall for a human and be different yet again, then I guess you picked a good one."

"You mean that?"

"Yeah, I do. I hope you two have some fun here. Don't forget about me and mom though. She's missed you. I've…I've missed you."

"I'm here for days yet, don't worry, Sol."

As he finished speaking, a cab appeared in the courtyard and pulled in beside the path that led up to the medical centre.

"I guess that's your cue to leave," Solana said. "But I'll see you soon, right?"

"Right."

She patted him on the arm again and then strode back into the centre. Garrus watched her go, before turning towards Teagan.

He was finally alone with her again. There was no one else he needed to visit, nowhere else he needed to go.

A cleansing wave of relief washed over him as he realised that he was completely free to spend rest of the day in her company. Sure, it was already past mid-afternoon and he'd be back at this centre again tomorrow, but he would gladly take whatever time alone with her he could get.

She was standing near the fountain in the shade, facing away from him and pulling at her clothes. She'd worn a white, loose-fitting top over her trousers**, **but still clearly couldn't take the afternoon heat.

Garrus looked at her affectionately for a couple of seconds and then went to rescue her. Wherever they went next, he'd make damn sure it was somewhere that would be a lot more comfortable for a human than this sun-blasted courtyard.

She'd been through a hell of a lot today. Spending a lot of time alone with Solana could often be wearing in itself. He knew that from personal experience.

He was beginning to think that it might have been better if he had simply let her go back to the hotel by herself earlier on in the day. Hell, maybe he should never have taken her away from it in the first place. But he had, accidentally pulling her headfirst into the mess that was his family.

As he drew up to her, she smiled at him. She looked pretty worn out, but genuinely happy that he was back beside her.

"Hey, Garrus," she said, "How are you feeling?"

"Not great," he admitted. "I'm glad I finally came here, but it hasn't exactly left me feeling good about my mother's condition."

"Maybe she'll be feeling better tomorrow."

"Yeah, that's what's Solana said. But I'm not convinced she will be. There's a reason why I've learnt to be a pessimist. I just…wanted her to somehow be okay when I got here. I wanted to tell her about you."

"Garrus there's no pressure." Her voice was soft, soothing. "Not about telling her we're together."

"I _want _her to know. Sol already does. So should she."

"Okay."

They were both fell quiet for a moment until Garrus finally said, "One good thing did come out of today at least; Solana seems to like you."

"She does?" She looked genuinely surprised.

"I think so. She told me as much."

"Well good. I guess my natural charm must have somehow won her over in the end."

"Ah-ha. I'm sure that's what it was."

"It worked on you didn't it?"

"You have a point there."

She laughed, but her crinkled eyes and wide smile couldn't completely hide the weariness that was still showing through on her face.

"Are you okay, Teagan?" he asked.

"Hmm. Yeah sure, big guy, for the most part anyway. But I am a little too hot and I don't know if I've ever been so hungry in my entire life. Before you came over I was thinking of jumping naked into that fountain over there in the hopes of cooling down."

"That would have been quite a spectacle."

"Yeah, but I'm glad I didn't do it. I'd hate to get arrested for indecent exposure on the second day of shore leave."

He chuckled. "Come on then, let's get you out of here before the temptation to jump in starts to overwhelm you. Our cab's here already. We can go get something to eat in a nice restaurant."

"Forget about nice, Garrus. Let's just go to the first place we come across that has food and air conditioning."

"Alright. Whatever you want."

He wrapped one of his arms around her waist as he finished speaking and then leant down to nuzzle her cheek and neck. Her skin felt hot and sticky against his and the taxi was still sitting there waiting for them, but she made no attempt to push him off.

…..

**I'll try my best to update this fic in two weeks' time, but three might be more likely. I don't seem to be able to write as quickly as usual at the moment and this chapter was the most difficult yet. I probably could have made things a hell of a lot easier for myself by splitting it in half, but by the time I realised just how long it was going to be it was already mostly done!**

**I'm hoping I can get a little faster again because I do want to finish the story sometime this millennium and I'm not even at the mid-way point yet.**

**The next chapter, when it posts, will involve Garrus having to deal with an unexpected reunion with another member of his family. No prizes for guessing who that is ;)**

**Anyway, as always, thanks for reading.**


	6. A good turian

**Well, I'm still finding this hard to write but I got this chapter done in two weeks so I guess that's some sort of progress!**

**Thanks for all the alerts and favourites since the last update.**

**And thanks again to everyone who has reviewed so far. Your kind words have encouraged me to keep writing even when I've felt more like hurling my laptop out of a second storey window.**

**Note: My word count is going down by six words every time I upload this chapter and I can't work out where they're going missing from without re-reading this whole thing again. Sorry if there's a sentence or two within text that doesn't quite make sense!**

…

Garrus sat back on the bed, watching as Teagan brushed her hair in front of the dressing table mirror in their hotel room. Although he was only a few metres away from her, her eyes remained focused solely on her reflection. The expression of her face was one of complete concentration and her small, pink tongue was peeking out from between her lips.

Unable to stop himself, Garrus let out a small snort of laughter.

Teagan paused in her actions and turned towards him. "What's so funny?"

"Ah…nothing really," he said. "I was just thinking about something."

"Okay…then." She still looked confused, but started to brush her hair again anyway.

As he returned to watching her, Garrus' mind began to drift and he found himself wondering, of all things, how it felt to be a human with thousands of thin, silky threads sprouting out of the top of your head. From what he'd learnt since becoming Teagan's mate, hair certainly required a hell of a lot more upkeep than a spikey turian fringe. As well as needing to be brushed regularly, it also had to be kept clean with water and that strange scented stuff she called shampoo.

On a few occasions over the last few weeks when they'd been in the shower together, Teagan had let him help her wash her hair. The first time he'd been able to see the laughter in her eyes as he took his time and tried not to tear a single strand of it. Afterwards, with a wide smile on her face, she'd told him that her hair definitely didn't deserve to be treated with so much reverence but that she appreciated the gesture anyway.

She often made comments like that which gave him the impression that she didn't think her hair was anything special. However, he'd noticed it had been getting longer over the last few weeks. Throughout the entire collector mission she'd kept it trimmed to just above her chin, but now it almost stretched down towards her shoulders. He wondered if she was growing it solely for his benefit because the change didn't seem to please her all that much.

This morning, she clearly couldn't get it to sit the way she wanted it. The spines of her brush kept getting caught on tangles and he could hear her cursing under her breath every time.

Like him, she seemed to be rather tired and out of sorts, though she had at least managed to dress herself. Garrus was currently wearing only pants and seemed to lack the necessary energy to walk across the room and pull on the rest of his clothes.

Neither he nor Teagan had slept very well. In fact, the whole of yesterday evening had been rather strange. The two of them had returned to the hotel when it was still light outside, but then hadn't seemed to know what to do with themselves.

They'd ended up naked and in bed together eventually, like they did most evenings. However, even though they'd both been stripped completely bare, they hadn't done much more than simply lay there together. After a while, their eyes had drifted closed and they'd both fallen into a rather fitful sleep.

Teagan in particular had seemed far more restless than usual, moving around a lot and occasionally wriggling out of Garrus' arms. When they'd both woken up an hour ago, there had been a something of a gap between them and she'd been lying with the blankets only partly covering her.

Since then, they hadn't really talked all that much which was quite unusual for them. It was almost as if some sort of invisible barrier had formed between them during the night, drawing them slightly off from each other. They were still happy together of course, very happy, but they just both seemed to have a hell of a lot on their minds. After all of yesterday's events, perhaps that was not really very surprising.

Garrus considered going over to where she still stood in front of the mirror, purposely closing the distance between them so that he could wrap his arms securely around her. However, in the end he decided it was best not to interrupt her when she was in the middle of something and stayed where he was.

A minute or two later, she finally finished brushing her hair and began to prod at her face instead. "I don't think I'm going to win any beauty contests today, Garrus," she said, "Not that I would usually. God, I look so tired. You'd think I'd spent the whole night sleeping rough instead of lying on a comfy bed."

Garrus caught her eye in the mirror. "You look good to me."

"But you have to say that. It's part of your duties as my boyfriend."

"I mean it."

Sure, he could tell she was tired but no matter how dark the circles were under her eyes, he would still find her attractive. And he liked the way her hair looked today even if she didn't. It was shining in the yellow-orange light that was coming in through the windows and bouncing over her shoulders as she moved.

Smiling, she turned round to face him. "Thank you, Garrus. You look good to me too, though I presume you're not planning to leave the room like that."

He had, as of yet, made no further progress towards getting dressed. His shirt was lying metres away from him on the floor and, as she smirked at him, he realised for the first time that he had put on one shoe but not the other.

"Ah…no. I'll be ready to go in a few minutes."

"That's fine, but do you mind if I head outside while you finish dressing? If I stay in here, I'm liable to crawl right back into bed. I feel like getting some fresh air before it's too stiflingly hot out there."

"Go ahead, but it's probably already pretty hot. Vectis never really cools down."

"Oh…" She looked frustrated for a brief moment. "Well I guess the sunshine might at least wake me up a bit."

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry, Garrus. I'm just pretty tired like I said. I'll probably feel better once I've stretched my legs a bit. Do you think you'll be able to meet me down in the dining room in about ten minutes? I'm really in the mood for scrambled eggs and bacon."

"Of course. Anything you want, Teagan."

"Thanks, big guy."

She began to head for the door but then changed course and walked towards him instead. When she reached him, she cupped his face in her hands and gently pressed her lips against his mouth. He returned the kiss immediately, pulling her tighter against him and wrapping his arms around her body. There was no gap, no barrier of any kind, between them now. She had showered earlier and smelt fresh, but he could still detect her own distinct scent underneath the soap and shampoo.

As he continued to hold her, he thought about rolling her underneath him and showing her just how much he cared for her. First, he would nip and lick her neck, the way he knew she liked, until she was making soft little noises of pleasure and clutching at him. Then, once she was getting desperate, he would remove the clothes she'd only put on fifteen minutes ago and slowly make love to her.

Normally, he probably would have just gone ahead and acted out everything that he was picturing in his mind. However, something made him hesitate. He wasn't completely sure if her thoughts were going along similar lines to his and she seemed to be so tired.

In the end, they simply drew apart from each other and a moment later she was gone.

Alone now, Garrus finally found the motivation to finish getting ready. He collected his shirt from where it was lying on the floor, found his pesky missing shoe and put both items on. Then, after taking a cursory glance at his scarred reflection in the mirror, began to carefully make the bed

A few silk pillows had fallen off it and were scattered across the floor so he returned them to their rightful place. The blankets were messy and rumpled too, but instead of straightening them out like he initially intended, he somehow ended up pulling them back completely and touching the spot where Teagan had been lying only an hour or so before. It had gone cold by now of course, but he ran his hand across it anyway.

Since the beginning of their intimate relationship, she had without fail slept on the right side of the bed, leaving him to take the other. Apparently, it didn't matter whether they were back on the Normandy in her quarters or somewhere else like this hotel room. Even on their first night together she'd curled up on that side of the bed after they'd made love, eventually drifting off to sleep there with his arms wrapped around her. He could remember hoping that it wouldn't be the only time he would get to hold her like that. Thankfully, he'd had the privilege on many more occassions since then.

Having only been initimate with the one human, he wasn't sure if most of the species got into the habit of sleeping on the same side every time, or if it was just a Teagan thing. Either way, it was fine by him. He was just happy to have her lying there next to him, although he had to admit that sleeping beside her last night had been a tad less relaxing than usual.

Frowning slightly, Garrus took his hand off the bed and finally returned to making it. He pulled the blankets over it once more, smoothing them down with his hands. Then he neatly arranged all of the pillows so that the bed would be completely ready for him and Teagan to crawl into together later that day. He just hoped that they would have a better night's sleep this time.

The rest of the room was, unfortunately, still quite a mess. There were piles of clothes on the floor from when the two of them had undressed the night before and many of their personal belongings were scattered untidily about the place. However, it was possible that Teagan was already in the dining room by now so Garrus left the room the way it was. He certainly didn't want to keep her waiting.

He had just reached the door and was about to leave when, to his surprise, the buzzer for the room sounded. Thinking Teagan must have left something behind, he called out, "Just a sec", and then hit the door release.

When it slid open, he was fully expecting to see a tallish female human with pale skin, brown hair and brown eyes standing out in the hall. Instead, he was greeted by a six-foot-four male turian. He was immaculately dressed in what looked like a new black and silver suit, and his cobalt blue facial markings had clearly been touched up recently, but Garrus had no trouble recognising him.

Not many sons would fail to recognise their own father; even if they hadn't seen him for a very long time.

Garrus froze, his body completely rooted to his spot while his mind travelled back to their last disastrous encounter more than two years before.

It had taken place on the Citadel only an hour or so after Garrus had left C-Sec for the second time. He'd handed in his resignation and then, after throwing back a couple of stiff drinks, headed straight to his father's office in the C-Sec academy to tell him what he'd just done. He'd thought it would be better if his dad heard the news directly from him, rather than hearing it from one of his beloved colleagues.

Although his father had long since retired from his active role with C-Sec, he had still been working for them in an advisory capacity, helping to develop training for new recruits. Despite having already reached well beyond his sixtieth year, he'd seemed to have no intention of walking away from C-Sec completely. Hell, even now, today, he was probably still working for them in some capacity. From the moment he'd first arrived on the Citadel, he had been a C-Sec man through and through, completely dedicated to doling out their version of justice.

Entering the great Virgal Vakarian's office and then explaining exactly why he was there had taken some nerve on Garrus' part. Any hopes he'd had that his father was going to take the news well had been put to rest very quickly. He had looked and sounded furious as Garrus had told him haltingly but determinedly what he'd just done.

Garrus couldn't remember now all that his loving dad had said to him, but he was pretty sure the phrase, "You're fast becoming my biggest disappointment", had been one of the first things that had come out of his mouth. He'd tried to convince Garrus to go back to C-Sec and tell them that he'd changed his mind. Garrus had refused.

The idea of travelling to Omega had still only been half-formed in his mind, but he'd been sure that he was going to lose it completely if he remained in C-Sec for any longer, getting tripped up by red tape every time he tried to make a difference. When his father had asked him what he planned to do next, he'd simply mumbled some crap about signing up for contract work.

Their conversation had continued on for a long time, going round and round in angry, pointless circles, until, finally, his father had said, "If you don't fix this mistake, then don't bother coming to see me again. I can't watch you wreck your life."

That, Garrus could remember exactly. Hearing it had hurt like hell because he had been sure that his father meant it.

Garrus had walked out of his office mere seconds later and they hadn't spoken since. Even though Garrus had been on the Citadel with Teagan many times during the last few months, he'd never visited the C-Sec academy, never walked through the door of his father's office to find him sitting behind his desk with piles of datapads and case files in front of him.

There hadn't seemed to be much point. That fight had simply been the last one in a series of disagreements between them and usually his father wouldn't change his mind once he was decided on something.

On this occasion, however, he clearly had.

"Dad…" Garrus said, still not over his initial shock, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"That is hardly an appropriate way to greet your father." His tone was even and cool. "I came here to see you."

"I don't understand. How did you even know I was staying here?"

"From speaking to Solana."

"Solana!" Garrus exclaimed. This went well beyond any attempt she'd made to interfere in his life in the past. The worst she'd ever done before now was verbally harangue him for not spending enough time on Palaven. "Did she tell you to come here?"

"No," Virgal replied. "You should know better than to jump to conclusions like that after all your training, Garrus. I was speaking to her a few days ago and she happened to mention that you were coming to Vectis to see her. She also said that you were staying here in this hotel instead of with her and that she couldn't understand why."

"So….what? You found all of that out and then just decided to turn up at my door?"

"It wasn't a spur of the moment decision. I've wanted to see you for some time, Garrus, but you haven't exactly been easy to reach since leaving C-Sec. I couldn't let this opportunity pass me by." He cleared his throat. "May I please come in?"

Garrus simply stared at his father for a moment, before finally nodding and stepping to one side so he could enter.

Seconds later, they were both standing sealed in the room together, but with a large gap of several metres between them. Neither of them seemed to want to be any closer to each other yet.

"I can't believe you're here," Garrus said eventually, unable to come up with a better opening line. "You said that you didn't want to see me anymore. I thought you meant it."

"I was angry," Virgal replied. "You came and told me, with no prior warning, that you'd left C-Sec _again._ How did you expect me to react?"

"If you'd been paying any attention to me, then you would have realised it was a long time coming."

"That's neither here nor there, Garrus. I didn't realise. It was a massive shock. I had such high hopes that you were turning things around."

"Let's not discuss C-Sec anymore," Garrus said gruffly. "We'll just end up repeating the last wonderful conversation we had with each other. Besides, I'm not going back."

He could hear his voice becoming progressively louder as they talked. Only a few years ago, it would have been unthinkable for him to speak to his father, the brilliant Detective Vakarian, with anything other than the utmost respect. However, he found he didn't particularly care if he raised his voice to him anymore. Virgal had chosen to be absent from his life for more than two years now and he was no longer an obedient child.

"What should we talk about then?" Virgal asked after a moment's pause. "Do you have a topic in mind or may I pick one? How about we discuss what you've been doing over the last couple of years and how you got those scars? I have to say, I expected you to do something reckless after leaving C-Sec, but taking on Omega, that wasn't merely reckless, it was insane."

Although he tried not to react to what his father had just said, Garrus was unable to stop his mandibles from flaring in surprise. Virgal was sure to have noticed. In that one, small gesture, he'd given himself away entirely. "How…how do you know about Omega?"

"I spent years working as a detective, Garrus. Archangel caused quite a stir and I have sources spread across the galaxy." Virgal's tone was still maddeningly calm despite the uncomfortable subject matter. "It didn't take long for me to gather enough information to be fairly certain it was you."

"I was trying to make Omega a better place," Garrus said lamely.

"And what exactly did you achieve in the end, Garrus?"

The honest answer was nothing, but Garrus couldn't bring himself to say that out loud. He didn't want to see the scathing look on his father's face. His plan had seemed so simple at the start, he would go to Omega, fight the good fight, help the helpless, and make the station a better place. However, it had all gone so badly wrong in practice. He'd made big mistakes. He'd got his men killed. Then afterwards, he'd wasted months chasing Sidonis for his part in their deaths only to let him go.

He had so many regrets about all the things that had gone wrong over the previous couple of years, but his father was the last person in the galaxy he wanted to share any of them with. Garrus didn't think he deserved sympathy, but Virgal was unlikely to offer him any understanding or even one kind word. He would only stand there judging him.

"I admit going to Omega…didn't work out the way I thought it would," Garrus said. "But things have been going better lately. I've been serving under Commander Shepard again on the new Normandy vessel over the last few months."

"I know. As I said before, I still have my sources."

"Right. Well, we've been making the galaxy safer. We've done good things."

"Perhaps you have, Garrus. But I would still prefer it if you were serving your people in some way, rather than roaming the galaxy with a human spectre. You may think she's something special, but she'll end up just as corrupt as anybody else who is given too much power over life and death. She's already sullied herself by working with Cerberus."

"Don't talk about her like that."

"Fine," Virgal said. "There's no need to get so strident about her. I'm sure she doesn't need some turian defending her honour."

"Maybe not, but this has nothing to do with her. This is about us and your inability to accept who I am."

"You're oversimplifying everything, Garrus, as usual. All I've ever wanted is what's best for you. You had so much potential as a child, but you were also always too headstrong and flighty like your mother. I tried to correct that."

"Mom spent years serving the Hierarchy until she got sick. She did her duty."

Virgal made a strange noise in his throat. "Yes, I suppose she did for the most part. It's just a shame she wasn't as committed to other things as she was to her job."

"What the hell does that mean?" Garrus asked. He knew his parent' marriage had been bad, but he still had no desire to hear his father criticise his mother. She was ill now and stuck in a hospital. If she had done anything wrong, then it had been years ago.

"Nothing," Virgal said in the end. "Forget about it. I know it's too late to change you now anyway. I've done my best to come to terms with that. But I still think you could have being so much more than this."

"You mean I could have ended up more like you."

"Would that really have been so awful, Garrus?"

Anger flared up inside of him to such an extent that for a moment he couldn't speak. How dare his father arrive at his door, unbidden and unwelcome, and come out with all of this crap?

He'd wanted this place to be a haven for him and Teagan, somewhere for only the two of them, but his dad had simply barged into it.

Garrus glared at him. "Did you really travel thousands of light years to insult my Commander and mom, while you pick me apart again? Because you can leave right now if you did."

"No.," he said. "No, of course I didn't. There's more I need to say to you. May I sit down?"

"Uh…I guess so."

He walked over to an armchair at the back of the room and lowered himself into it. Then he slouched forwards, back bent, and immediately seemed so much smaller than before.

Garrus followed him. "I…don't understand any of this. Why exactly are you here?"

"You're still my son, Garrus. I missed you. I came here to tell you that, but it was easier to start lecturing you again instead. Force of habit I suppose." He paused. "I want you to be a part of my life. For good. I want to be a father to you again."

"I…what made you decide this?"

"I spent three weeks earlier this year thinking you were dead."

"You…thought I was dead?"

"Yes. The gangs on Omega reported that Archangel had been killed, remember? It didn't take long for the news to reach me. I even began to plan out how to tell your mother and Solana. It wasn't until you turned up on the Citadel with Shepard, scarred but alive, that I finally knew you were okay."

Since his father's arrival, Garrus had mostly been feeling angry and pretty damn confused. Now though, a strong sense of shame came over him, temporarily dwarfing any other emotion. Despite everything that had happened between them, he would never, never have wanted his father to go through that.

"I'm sorry," he said. "If I'd known then I would have contacted you."

His father nodded absently. "When I thought you were…gone, I realised I had been too harsh on you. Some of the things I said to you when you left C-Sec I have since come to...regret. I should never have told you that I didn't want you in my life. It was a mistake."

Usually, his father would rather shoot himself in the foot with his own standard issue C-Sec pistol than admit he'd been wrong. Garrus could barely believe what he was hearing.

"You really mean that?"

"Yes."

"I…I don't know what to say. I'm not sure if…I mean, where exactly are you expecting us to go from here, dad?"

Virgal didn't answer. Just like his son, he didn't seem to have any real idea of how they could move forward again after everything that had happened between them.

Even before all the fights, the resentment and the angry words, they hadnever really been close. Their relationship had always been completely unbalanced, with Garrus chasing after his father's approval almost from his infancy. And no matter how fast he'd run, how hard he'd tried, he'd never quite been able to get it. His dad had still wanted him to do that little bit better, and had told him so.

The older he'd got, the more Garrus had felt like they had a student-teacher relationship, instead of the father-son one they were supposed to have. During his school days, his friends had often talked with pride about the fun things they'd done with their fathers during the weekends, like watching clawball or visiting Vectis' massive space port. Garrus had been proud of his dad too, but he'd rarely had any stories of his own to share. Virgal had been so busy all the damn time. From shortly after Garrus' tenth birthday, he hadn't even lived on the same planet as his son, although he had still kept close tabs on his school work.

They had of course shared some good times together over the years. It was Virgal who had bought Garrus his first model ship and shown him how to assemble it. He'd also taught Garrus to shoot long before he'd started his boot camp training.

The closest Garrus had ever felt to his father, the real person not just the distant teacher, had been when he'd told him over video-link that he'd got a place in C-Sec. His dad had still lectured him about doing a good job for at least ten minutes, but he'd looked so happy, with real joy and pride in his eyes.

There was only sadness in Virgal's eyes now.

"Dad…" Garrus said, "How are we supposed to get past all of this?"

He sighed. "What makes you think I know the answer that question when you don't?"

"I thought you always had all the answers."

"Well, I don't in this case."

Both father and son lapsed into silence once more. For a long moment, they avoided looking at each other and stared out at the room instead.

Garrus' eyes had just moved to the dressing table from one of the windows when he heard his father finally begin to speak again.

"Maybe this isn't the best place to discuss this anyway," he said in a sharp voice.

Garrus turned towards him. "What do you mean?"

"You have company I see." He nodded his head towards the pile of Teagan's clothes that was still sitting in full view on the floor.

Garrus cursed himself for not tidying it away before letting his father into the room. He then cursed himself even more profusely a second later when he realised one of the lacy-bra things she wore over her chest was sitting right in the middle of the pile. It was white and had a slight tear in the material caused by a clumsy attempt he'd made to remove it.

"I didn't know you had developed a taste for asari," Virgal said. "I've personally never understood the appeal. I suppose that's yet another difference between us. I've always been happy to find mates among my own kind."

"I haven't developed a taste for the asari!" Garrus said.

"Then to whom do those clothes belong? You're not going to try to convince me they're yours, are you? Because I can tell you already, that line's not going to work."

Had Garrus ever given serious thought to how he would tell his father about his relationship with Teagan, then this was definitely not the way he would have decided to broach the subject. However, his only real options now were to either tell him the truth or to make up a barefaced, obvious lie that he wouldn't believe anyway.

"Look, okay, this is awkward, dad," Garrus said. "Very awkward, but they belong to my mate. She's staying here with me, but she's not an asari. She's…"

Before he could get any further into the sentence, the door buzzer sounded, cutting him off, and someone called out "Hey, Garrus, open up," from the hallway.

Possibly because the universe seemed to hate Garrus Vakarian, Teagan had chosen that exact moment to return to their room.

For a few seconds, Garrus simply stood there, open mouthed, with the next few words he'd been intending to say still frozen on his tongue.

"Garrus," Virgal said, "Are you ever planning to answer that, or should I?"

"No," he replied. "I'm going."

He walked over to the door release and hit it, trying to ignore the feeling of dread that was coming over him.

The door immediately opened to reveal a slightly annoyed looking Teagan standing out in the corridor with her arms crossed over her chest. "Why are you still up here?" she said. "The other diners are giving me funny looks. I mean even more so than usual when we're down there together. I think some of them are convinced you've left me in the night."

"I'm sorry, I got caught up. Someone here's with me."

"Who? Solana?"

"No…my father. We've been…talking."

"What?" Even though she'd only said one word, she couldn't possibly have sounded any more shocked. "Oh, my God. Should I go, Garrus?"

"No…" he said, fairly certain that his father could hear everything they were saying. "I was in the middle of telling him about you anyway. You, ah, may as well come in. I'll introduce you to him."

"Okay….sure."

Despite what she'd just said, however, she seemed very unwilling to move from the hallway so Garrus took her hand. She stared at him for a moment, but then let him lead her into the room.

Virgal raised himself off the chair and back onto his feet as they approached him. "I see your companion has returned."

"Ah, yeah, she has," Garrus said_, _still holding her hand. He squeezed it tightly for a second and then let it go. "Dad this is…"

"Commander Teagan Shepard. Yes, I know." He looked at her with a hard expression on his face. "I recognise you from the extranet and the security feeds on the Citadel. I did not ever expect to meet you in person, however."

"Well," she said. "I didn't expect to meet you like this either, but, ah, here we are anyway."

"So you're the mate my son was just talking about. I came to this hotel to get reacquainted with him, but I had no idea you were staying here too."

"Garrus has been serving with me on my ship for a while now. We've become quite…close."

"Evidently. Just how long has it been since the two of you were mere colleagues?"

"Not that long," Garrus said quickly so Teagan wouldn't have to keep talking. "But we're happy together."

"I see." He abruptly turned all of his focus on his son, blanking Teagan. "I understand now why you got so defensive of her earlier, Garrus. I did not expect this to be the reason. My powers of deduction failed me for once. I think I should have known." He paused. "I had no desire to stumble into this situation. Perhaps I should go. I suddenly don't feel very comfortable being here anymore. I'm sure the two of you would rather be alone anyway."

"But…"

"No. I think it's best if we finish talking some other time when I've had a chance to process all of this. You still remember how to reach me on the Citadel, don't you?"

"I do, but I don't see any real reason…"

"Good. Contact me soon. I'll make myself available to you. We'll talk again."

Without waiting for Garrus to respond, without saying anything else, he walked straight out of the room and into the hallway. The door slid shut behind him.

Garrus stared at it for a couple of seconds. His father may have decided their conversation was over, but he wasn't done and he wasn't about to let him call all the shots. Not anymore.

"I'll be right back, Teagan," he said, briefly glancing her way before leaving the room just as his father had done a couple of seconds before.

Virgal had already made it mid-way down the corridor and was clearly heading in the direction of the stairs so Garrus strode after him, taking large steps across the plush red carpet.

The hotel seemed to be only just beginning to wake up. The corridor they were in was empty apart from the two of them and a single cart piled high with toiletries. All of the doorways Garrus passed were closed and most of the noises he could hear sounded muffled, like they were coming from far away. Many of the people staying in the hotel were probably still locked in their rooms, sleeping soundly in their comfy beds.

Garrus, on the other hand, was now wide awake and in the middle of one of the most stressful mornings of his life.

"Dad," Garrus said once he was only a few steps away from him. "Wait a minute. I'm not finished talking to you yet."

Virgal turned round with both of his brow plates raised. "Oh really? Exactly what else do you have to say to me that's so important it couldn't wait for a few days?"

"Well, I, ah…I want you to understand that Shepard…Teagan means a lot to me. I care about her. I want her to be a part of my life…permanently."

"What am I supposed to take from that comment?"

"You're a great detective. Can't you figure it out?"

"This is hardly the place to discuss any of this."

Even before his father had said that, Garrus had been well aware of how inappropriate it was to have such a personal conversation out in the middle of a hotel corridor. Anyone could walk by and overhear.

But he had to say his piece one way or another.

"Maybe not, but I want to talk about it anyway."

His father sighed heavily, wearily. "Garrus, you always have to make things harder for yourself don't you? Leaving C-sec twice, going to Omega and now this. She's a human and your commanding officer. What are you thinking? You should know better than to put so much stock into one person. They can let you down."

"I've made some mistakes, but she's not one of them."

"Why couldn't you have let me find you a nice turian girl to marry like I wanted to? I would have chosen someone well-suited to you. I still believe I could find a good wife for you."

"I don't want you to. I love Teagan," Garrus said in an exasperated voice. It wasn't the most romantic or calm declaration of love in the history of the galaxy, but he was glad that the words had made their way out of his mouth. "My feelings about her aren't going to change and if that bothers you, then you may as well just disown me again now."

"Well, I'm hardly ecstatic about it, Garrus." He paused for a long moment. "But…if I can come to terms with the fact that you abandoned C-Sec twice and spent over a year playing vigilante, then I can probably learn to accept this too. I think we've wasted enough time ignoring each other's existence already. Even if you continue your dalliance with her, I still want you to keep in touch with me. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Good."

They simply stared at each other for a second, not with affection exactly – it was far too soon for that- but at least without any open hostility in their eyes.

"I'll be back on the Citadel tomorrow," Virgal said. "You know how to reach me. Get in touch soon, Garrus."

"Alright."

"I'll leave you in peace then."

"Wait," Garrus said quickly before his father could start to move away from him. "One last thing; are you planning to see Sol and mom while you're still on Palaven?"

Garrus was certain Solana would appreciate a visit from him. Admittedly, he wasn't quite so sure how much Phadra would want to see him, but Virgal was still her husband. They'd had two children together and stayed married for years now. That had to mean something.

"I thought I might call on Solana if I get a chance," Virgal said. "But I do have to return to the Citadel."

"What about mom?

"I doubt I'll have the time. Besides, I already do my duty by her. I send money to help pay for her treatment and check in with her now and then. She doesn't want more than that from me."

"But she…hasn't been doing so well lately. Maybe you should see her."

"Garrus…" Virgal said in a warning tone.

"It's only a suggestion. I think after all the advice you've given me over the years I should be able to say this one little thing."

"Fair enough. But that certainly doesn't mean I'll listen."

"Oh, I know."

Virgal almost smiled, but seemed to stop himself at the last moment. "May I go now, Garrus? Have you finally said everything you want to? Or is there more?"

"I, uh, think I'm done now."

"Then I'll bid you goodbye." He caught Garrus' eye. "Don't forget to contact me."

"I won't…dad."

With a curt nod, Virgal then turned on his heel and started to walk down the corridor. Garrus watched him go. By the time he'd reached the stairs, the expression on his face was back to being completely controlled and impassive, as if he just happened to be strolling through the hotel. No one passing by him would have realised that mere seconds ago he had been talking to the son he'd been estranged from for two years.

Although Garrus couldn't see his own reflection, he was fairly certain he looked considerably less composed than his father.

To say his head was a bit of a mess would have been a major understatement. One thing was for sure though; his father, in his own particular way, had shown he was completely serious about them trying to rebuild their relationship.

Garrus didn't even really know if he thought that was a good thing or a bad thing yet. Their conversation had gone better than he would have expected it too. However, his father hadn't changed all that much and he had been far from polite to Teagan. Garrus was not even a little bit okay with that.

Teagan was a good person, and she'd been through hell for him over the last day or so. She deserved better treatment than his father had offered her.

After staring at the now empty staircase for a moment, Garrus finally began to retrace the path to his room. Virgal was long gone already and there was no point in him standing out in the corridor for any longer.

A minute or so later, he was back in the room with Teagan. She was perched rather stiffly on the bed and her face was tight. He could tell she'd been worried about him.

"I'm sorry I left you like that," he said, from where he was standing just in front of her. "I just had more I needed to say to him."

"That's alright, Garrus. I'm sorry for barging in on the two of you earlier. I had no idea what was happening. God, talk about bad timing." She ran one of her hands through her hair. "Did you manage to catch him before he left?"

"Yeah."

"How did it go?"

"Not great, but not awful."

"What did you end up talking about out there?"

"Me and you mainly. I, ah, wanted him to know how important you are to me."

"You did?" She seemed a little lost for words. "That's…very sweet of you, Garrus. How…how did he react?"

He wasn't immediately sure how to answer her question. He didn't want to repeat anything that might hurt her. Even before his father had arrived, she had clearly not been feeling great.

Partly to buy himself some thinking time, and partly because he simply wanted to be closer to her, he walked over to the bed and sat down beside her before attempting to speak.

"Well, he was…shocked," he said in the end. "But he still wants me to stay in touch with him even though he knows I'm serious about you. That's probably as close to approval as we're ever going to get from him."

She laughed, though it sounded rather half-hearted. "I guess that's better than nothing. What else did the two of you talk about? I mean, before I came in."

"A lot of different things. He gave me a variation of the usual dressing down. He noticed your clothes and thought I was having an affair with an asari. He tried to talk to me about leaving C-Sec and about Omega. He knew I was archangel…he wasn't pleased. Unsurprisingly, that was probably the real low point of the whole conversation."

Her eyes widened. "Are you okay after all of that?"

"Just about. Honestly, it probably could have gone a lot worse than it did all things considered, although I think I was more relaxed when I thought he'd disowned me completely and was out of my life."

"So…you are going to stay in touch with him, then."

"Yeah…I guess so. I don't like the thought of him barging in on us again."

"God, no."

"He probably won't stop trying to reach me, even if I ignore him. My father is a very determined person once he decides he wants something. I may as well see how it goes."

That was the simplest way for Garrus to explain his decision to let his dad back into his life, but it probably wasn't the whole truth. Maybe a part of him still hoped he could develop a proper relationship with him, unmarred by mutual resentment, like most sons seemed to have with their fathers.

"And I suppose it did take a lot for him to come here," he added. "You don't mind, do you, Teagan?"

"No, not at all, Garrus. Whatever you think is best is fine by me."

"Thank you."

She smiled at him and then leant forwards so she could press her forehead against his. It was only a small gesture, but the sense of closeness it gave him was still enough to make him feel a hell of a lot better than only a moment before. He hoped it had the same effect on her.

A few seconds passed, then she pulled away from him and rested her head against his shoulder. "This has been some morning so far, Garrus."

"Yeah, I know." He brought one of his hands to the top of her head and then begun to run it gently through her hair. He curled some of the soft strands round his talons, thinking all the while about how he could make up for the awful start to the day she'd had. "I have an idea, why don't I take you sightseeing this morning? You haven't got to explore much of Vectis yet and it might cheer both of us up."

"I'd love that. Don't you, ah, want to see your mother again though?"

"Yeah, I do, but I'll go later. I think we both deserve to have a little bit of fun after the terrible ordeal we've just been through."

She laughed, and it sounded a little more genuine than it had done a couple of minutes before. "Well, if you insist."

"I do." He smiled and then stood up, pulling her along with him. "Come on, let's get some breakfast and then get the hell out of here."

…

**Since I managed to update after two weeks this time, I will attempt to do the same thing again. I have a bit more freelance writing work to get through than usual this month, but I can probably still write the next chapter within that timescale. If not, then I'll update three weeks from now instead.**

**I know I say this every time, but thanks for reading! **


	7. The good samaritan

**It feels so strange to be updating this story on a Monday instead of on Sunday like usual, but I just needed a little extra time to get the chapter into shape.**

**Now it's done and dusted, this fic has just reached past the mid-way point. Thanks to all of you who have stuck with the story so far!**

**A big thanks to the people who reviewed the last chapter. It's always good to find out what people think of this story, especially since I'm still trying to improve as a writer. Also, thanks for all the alerts and favourites since the last update :)**

**This chapter is another long'un, but I hope you all enjoy it.**

…

Teagan soon realised that Garrus was going to take his pledge to show her more of his hometown very seriously. They ate breakfast quickly, hailed a cab and then set out to explore Vectis.

He ended up bringing her to one of city's oldest museums first. Even though Teagan had never heard of it before, it was apparently renowned across the galaxy for housing thousands of relics from Palaven's distant past within its stone walls.

As they walked through the museum's lofty rooms, passing by brightly lit cases full of ceremonial weapons, armour and other antiquities, Garrus talked to her on and off about turian history and culture. She was taken aback by just how much he was able to tell her and ended up asking him how the hell he remembered it all. He explained, in a rather embarrassed way, that he'd learnt most of it during the years he'd spent obsessively studying to please his father and probably couldn't forget any of it even if he tried.

Although Teagan enjoyed being at the museum, the whole experience was rather strange. As far as she could see, they were the only turian and human couple in the entire five storey building. There were a few asari and turian pairs, but that was it, and many of the visitors seemed to be locals_._ She only rarely caught a glimpse of another human in the place.

The trip also made her realise how little she still knew about the turian people, despite being with Garrus for weeks now. History had always interested her, which was probably why Garrus had brought her there in first place, but she had never really bothered to learn much about his species. She needed to right that.

Despite both of those little niggles, she tried to show Garrus that she was having fun. She smiled, laughed and nodded whenever he talked about the exhibitions and let him lead her through all the rooms. She knew they were here for her sake, even though he'd had a terrible start to the day too. That kind of behaviour was typical of him though. He was always so considerate towards her; to the extent it sometimes made her feel bad. She couldn't work out what she'd done to deserve to be loved by someone that much.

After they'd wiled away a couple of hours in the museum, he then took her to a huge indoor marketplace that was thronging with people of all species. A lone human could so easily have got lost in it, but Garrus made sure that he stayed by her side.

By the time they'd walked up and down a couple of the long rows of stalls, Teagan really was beginning to cheer up, and she could tell he was too. The events of the early morning no longer felt so current and were on their way to becoming nothing more than a memory.

The market itself was also very distracting. It seemed to offer goods imported from every major rock in the galaxy, rather than simply selling products from Palaven itself. Teagan even spotted a few items that looked like they'd originally come from Earth. Many of the stalls were selling foodstuffs of various descriptions, some of which looked fairly appetising to her, some of which definitely didn't. Others were stocked with decorative items and trinkets.

Teagan was particularly taken with one that was displaying a variety of silver and gold turian jewellery despite knowing that none of the ornate necklaces or bracelets would fit her human body properly_._ Conversely, she made sure that she and Garrus stayed the hell away from a row of stalls that appeared to be selling nothing but live animals in cages. None of the noisy creatures looked quite as hideous to her as that rengal had done yesterday, but she still didn't want to get any closer to their cages.

The two of them ended up staying in the market for quite some time. Teagan didn't actually buy anything, but Garrus insisted on getting her some chocolate right before they left. When he handed the small foil-wrapped bar to her, she kissed him, not caring who saw.

They then dropped into a nearby café for some lunch. A sign outside of it proudly proclaimed that it offered food suitable for every major council race. However, Garrus seemed to be considerably more pleased with the meal that was eventually placed in front of him than Teagan was with what was presented to her. The vegetable soup she'd ordered had bits of bits of banana floating in it and was so lumpy it looked more like stew.

Still, she enjoyed just sitting back and relaxing in the café with Garrus. The good company he was offering her was more than enough to make up for the terrible food as well as the café's awful red and sliver colour scheme. She probably would have happily stayed in there with him for the rest of the day.

Unfortunately, that wasn't ever really going to be an option because Garrus still needed to visit his mother at some point. Once they'd finished eating, he began to fidget with his cutlery and she was sure that was what he was thinking about.

She decided to put him out of his misery. "Is something on your mind, Garrus?"

His hands stopped moving straight away and he looked up at her. "Well…yeah, sort of. I've really enjoyed spending time with you like this, but I think that I should head over to the medical centre to see my mom before it gets much later. I mean, if you're okay with that."

"Yeah, of course." She did her best not to look at all disappointed, especially since that was what she'd been expecting him to say anyway.

"I'm sorry we can't just keep sightseeing all day," he said slowly, "But I'm worried about her and I promised I'd come today. You...had a good time this morning though, didn't you?"

"Of course, I did. The museum was amazing. I don't think I've ever seen so many swords and guns in the one place before. I thought humans were a little obsessed with big, shiny weapons, but we obviously have nothing on you turians. I guess I should have known from the way you treat your sniper rifle."

He chuckled. "Did you like the market too?"

"Yeah. Don't worry; you certainly know how to show a human girl a good time. I really appreciate everything you've done for me today." She gave him the warmest look she was able to muster. "So…do you want me to come to the medical centre with you?"

"No, you don't have to do that," he said after a slight pause. "I'll be okay on my own. I don't want to drag you all the way over there two days in a row."

"I don't mind, Garrus"

She may not have had the best experience in the centre yesterday, what with being cornered by Solana and everything, but her offer to accompany him was genuine. She would go there with him on every remaining day of their shore leave if that's what he wanted.

He looked at her for a moment, before finally shaking his head. "Honestly, although I'd like you to come, there's probably not much point. You'll just end up stuck waiting for me again and that's not fair on you. I want you to just relax today, Teagan. If mom's well enough then I will tell her about us though, and you can meet her another day if she's okay with the idea."

"Are you sure, Garrus?"

"Yeah. Should I call a cab now or do you want to have some desert?"

Teagan looked down at the remnants of her soup. She hadn't been able to stomach eating all of it so there was still a pile of lumpy banana, onion and carrot in her bowl.

"You can order the cab now," she said.

….

Just half an hour later, Teagan was standing in front of the hotel while Garrus was attempting to bid her a warm goodbye through a cab window. He told her he'd be back with her as soon as he could before finally speeding off.

She knew he was trying to be kind to her by leaving her behind to relax all afternoon even though he couldn't. However, only a few seconds after he'd left, she found herself wishing that she'd insisted on going with him. It was far too late to run after him though. Cybernetically enhanced or not, she was never going to be able to catch a speeding cab so she stayed where she was.

She thought for a while about heading into the hotel on her own, but decided in the end that doing so straight away might make her feel worse. She didn't want to end up sitting alone in their nice room, obsessively staring at the clock like some lovesick idiot and wondering why he wasn't back yet.

Instead, she began to wander through the streets around the hotel. By pure chance, she stumbled across a park about half a mile from where they were staying. Or at least what must pass for a park in Vectis. It was basically a very large patch of yellow-brown grass with the occasional plant growing out of it. Although it made a welcome change from the greyness of the rest of the city, Teagan wasn't that impressed by the sight of it. She had after all grown up playing in the huge fields of beautiful, green Mindoir.

However, she still started to walk through the park. At first, she simply strolled about aimlessly, but eventually she started to follow a winding stone path that seemed like it might be leading somewhere interesting. It was lined on either side with a variety of shrubs that she had never seen before, as well as the occasional tree. Some of the plants were almost pretty, with strange shaped leaves and bright flowers.

Teagan did her best to enjoy her surroundings, but she was finding it quite hard. She was way too hot for one thing and her skin felt increasingly sticky under her clothes. However, the main reason she couldn't relax properly was that Garrus wasn't with her. She was already missing his steady, reassuring presence so much. She had no one to talk to, no one to joke with.

Without him by her side, she just didn't feel like she belonged in this park, or anywhere else on Palaven for that matter. So many things on this planet were still so strange to her and she felt like she was very far from home even though she knew the Normandy was parked less than fifty miles away in a space port.

She kept walking through the park anyway. There was nothing better to do. Eventually, the path brought her to a round courtyard that was partly surrounded by bushes and had two huge metal sculptures erected right in the centre of it. They were just as ugly as the one she'd come across in Donovan Hock's vault. She definitely couldn't see herself coming to appreciate turian art anytime soon.

Still, she moved closer to one of them and shielded herself from the sun for a while by standing in its shadow. At least it was useful for something, even though she still thought it looked hideous. She wished Garrus was there with her so she could tease him about how the mighty turian race seemed completely unable to produce any good artwork. But he wasn't.

She started to walk out of the courtyard again, but just as she was about to take her third or fourth step forward she noticed that a male turian was heading right for her. He was almost as tall as Garrus and had similar facial markings to him, although the blue band across his nose was a lot thinner. His skin and plates were both a dark muddy brown colour and he was dressed in a bright green and purple suit.

Turians often wore strange colour combinations, but Teagan figured he must be a pretty confident person to attempt to pull that garish outfit off. The way he started to smile as he got closer to her also suggested he was far from being the turian equivalent of a shrinking violet.

Teagan didn't recognise him, in fact she was sure she'd never seen him before in her life, but it was possible that he'd recognised her as the 'great' Commander Shepard. Strangers had come up to her a few times before because they'd realised who she was. Usually they wanted to have her autograph or to berate her for something she'd done in the past. She'd been so pleased that she hadn't been approached by anyone so far during this shore leave and had been starting to hope that no one on Palaven was going to recognise her. However, it looked like her hopes were about to be dashed.

When the turian was a few feet away from her, he called out, "Hello, there!" in a much louder voice than he strictly needed to use.

"Ah...hello," she replied, somewhat hesitantly. She wasn't really in the mood for talking to a random stranger right now, no matter how amiable they seemed. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"No. I just thought you might need some directions. You looked a little lost."

"Lost?" She knew sounded surprised, but that just wasn't what she'd been expecting him to say at all.

"Yeah, so I thought I should come over and help you. I know this whole area well. I like the scenery here so I come to this park a lot and I work just over there." He gestured vaguely to the north of where they were standing. "I'm on my lunch break at the moment. So…do you need directions?"

She shook her head. "No, no, I'm okay, but thanks anyway. I'm staying in a hotel very near here and I'm pretty sure I can still remember my way back."

"So you're on vacation here?"

"Ah…yeah, I am. I'm on holiday with my boyfri…with my mate."

"Really? I didn't think many human couples would want to come to this planet on holiday, what with the hot weather and all the radiation."

Teagan glanced at him, wondering whether or not it would be safe to correct his mistake. The expression on his face was very friendly and strangely open for a turian. "You're probably right about that," she said, "My mate isn't a human. He's a turian, he was born in this city."

"Oh!" He sounded excited, rather than shocked or appalled. "I know a little bit about the whole interspecies dating thing myself. I had a human mate for a while. My name's Tarquin Lasius."

He held out his hand, despite it being a very human gesture. Teagan began to reach out to take it, but then hesitated. She still didn't feel in the mood for a long conversation. However, this was the first time she'd had a chance to talk to someone who'd been in similar position to her and Garrus. Despite travelling across the galaxy for many years, she couldn't recall ever coming across another turian and human couple. She'd certainly not seen any yet on this planet.

She'd be stupid to let this opportunity pass her by. Whoever this man was, he'd been willing to date someone from a very different species to himself. Just like her and Garrus, he'd proven himself able to look past obvious surface differences to the soul of the person underneath. He was bound to have at least some interesting things to say about the whole experience.

Smiling, she finally took his hand in hers and shook it firmly. "I'm Teagan_." _She deliberately left her surname off so he would have less chance of working out who she was. "So…you went out with a human then?"

"Yeah," he replied. "For about a year before we broke up. Her name was Jess. She was lovely, very warm, always laughing about something or other. She actually looked a little like you, but her hair was a yellowy colour. I used to like the way it caught the sun on this planet. Not that your hair isn't nice too. It matches your eyes."

"Ah…thanks," she said. For a split second she was worried that he was attempting to flirt with her, but the expression on his face still simply looked open and friendly so she kept talking. "How did you and Jess get together then?"

"It's not the most enthralling story in all honesty. Are you sure you want to hear it?"

"Yeah. I'd really like to find out how another turian and human couple got together. We seem to be rather rare."

"Well, we both worked in the same part of the city. We still do actually. I'm a marketer for a ship manufacturer and she works in the human embassy. I kept seeing her around since we used to stop for coffee in the same cafe. One day, we were standing beside each other in the queue so I just started talking to her. The next day we sat together at the same table and it sort of just went from there. We were only friends to begin with, but then we both seemed to realise at around the same time that we wanted to be more than that. I never expected her to feel the same way as me, but I was damn happy when it turned out that she did. It didn't seem to matter to either of us that I was a turian and she was a human."

"How sweet," Teagan said, and she meant it.

"What about you and your turian mate? How did you get together?"

"Me and Garrus were friends first, just like the two of you. We started serving on the same ship a few months ago and became very close. He's just such a great guy. I mean, he can be a real snarky ass sometimes, but he always tries to do the right thing and he's never let me down. We've been mates for a few weeks now and we both seem to be pretty damn happy."

Okay, that wasn't the whole story of how they got together, not even close, but she didn't want to say anything that might make him realise who she was. She wanted to just be Teagan with him, an ordinary human who was dating a turian, instead of the famous Commander Shepard. Perhaps that was a rather strange decision for her to make, given how much she used to resist even telling anyone her first name, but she'd done it anyway.

Tarquin smiled. "That's great! Me and Jess were very happy when we first got together too. We took things quite slowly though before we let things get serious and, ah, physical. But it went well in the end, even if it was a little awkward in some ways. You humans certainly have hair in the strangest places!"

Teagan felt a blush creep across her face. Tarquin noticed her reaction straight away and instantly looked very embarrassed. "Ah…sorry. I probably shouldn't have said that. Sometimes my mouth gets a little ahead of my brain. Jess used to make fun of me for it."

"No, it's fine. I know what you mean. I think Garrus and I were both nervous the first time and there was quite a lot of fumbling, but, we, ah, got past it quickly. We seem to have everything worked out well now. There's no more fumbling or nerves. I definitely don't have any complaints about that side of our relationship."

Now it was her turn to look embarrassed. It was probably best not to start going on about how good it was with Garrus to a stranger, even though that was nothing but the truth. Sometimes the only thing that got her through a long shift was knowing that she would get to be alone with him in her quarters afterwards. They usually made love every evening, although, strangely, last night they hadn't managed to do much of anything before falling asleep.

"Well, let's just say it's never really been problem for us," she added hastily.

"We were the same. It was certainly a lot of fun working everything out."

"Yeah, definitely." Her cheeks still felt a little hot so she decided it was time for a slight change of subject. "Did…the two of you ever experience any problems because you were a turian and she was a human?"

"In what sense exactly?"

"Well, our species are quite different, and just not in physical ways," she said, thinking back to all the times Garrus had been forced to explain basic things about his people during this trip. "Did you ever feel like that made things a little harder for you and Jess?"

"Oh, I guess sometimes," he replied. "She could never get her head around the rules of clawball for one thing and kept trying to tell me how much better human sports were. But you can't let yourself get caught up on small stuff like that. We managed to muddle along perfectly fine most of the time."

"We've been doing pretty much the same thing and it's worked okay so far."

"That's good. I don't think any of the differences need to become a major issue. It's not like our species don't have anything in common. Despite the whole Relay 314 incident nonsense, I think turians and humans are often quite compatible."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Garrus and I just seem to naturally work well together most of the time." She paused. "But did you ever get the impression that other people don't much like seeing a turian and human together?"

By now she simply expected to get stared at when she was out with Garrus on this planet. From the moment they'd left the safe, familiar environment of the Normandy, they'd been viewed as something as a spectacle by other people. Some only looked surprised when they saw them together, which was fair enough, but some were downright rude, like that awful elderly couple on the tram.

Today had been no different. They'd definitely attracted more attention than any other couple in the museum. And when they'd kissed him in the marketplace, Teagan really hadn't cared who saw, but that didn't mean she hadn't noticed the way one of the traders had dropped the vase he was holding when he realised what the turian and human in front of him were getting up to.

She'd still do it again though. And again.

"Do want the complete truth?" Tarquin asked.

"Yeah, I think so," she replied.

"Okay, then, yes, I definitely got that impression sometimes. A lot of people didn't seem particularly pleased to see us together, although most didn't have the nerve to say anything. I tried not to pay any attention to them most of the time."

"That's what I've been doing so far."

"Yeah. You're never going to be able to face them all down, no matter how tempting that idea might be!" He threw one of his arms out in front of him as he spoke. "There was this one guy at my work who told me to my face that I should be ashamed for betraying my people. That was pretty damn annoying, but it was hard to take him seriously since he would stare at Jess very intently any time she came in to see me."

"So… what? You think he was a closest xenophile?"

He laughed. "Maybe, but I never bothered to suggest that to him. I thought it was best to ignore his stupidity. I have to admit though; it was much harder to cope when people close to us made it clear they didn't like our relationship."

"Who did that?"

"Some of our family members."

"Oh." She paused. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Her eyes dropped to the ground for a moment as she tried not to picture the way Solana and Garrus' father had looked at her the first time they'd met her. She couldn't help it though.

"Yeah, it was...frustrating," Tarquin said, sounding a little less jovial now. "Most of my family were okay with us being together, but none of hers seemed to be. It caused big problems for us after a while."

"Is that…is that why the two of you split up?"

"In a way."

Hearing those two simple, little words, made Teagan's stomach drop. It was silly and irrational, but she'd wanted him to say no, to explain that they'd broken up for some other reason. Anything would've probably been better than the answer he'd just given.

She should never have asked him such a personal question in the first place, but now she had a horrible grasping, desperate part of her wanted to know more details.

"What exactly happened?" she asked, before hastily adding, "I mean, if you don't mind me asking."

"It's okay. I won't bore you with the whole, long story, but, to put it simply, her family back on Earth were very upset when they finally found out about me. At first, she told me it didn't matter if they didn't approve, but I could tell it was bothering her. She'd always been close to them before so she found it hard to understand how they could suddenly be so cold with her. They kept 'forgetting' to return her messages and refused to discuss our relationship. Me meeting any of them was completely out of the question. She also lost a couple of old friends when they found out she was with a turian.

"She kept saying that she still wanted to be with me, but eventually we started to meet up less and less. She always seemed to be busy doing something else and a lot of the time when we did meet, she seemed a bit tense and didn't laugh anywhere near as much as she used to. Then, a few months ago, she called me to say we should take a short break so she could sort out her feelings. She said she'd be back in touch, but I haven't heard from her since. I sent her a few messages of course, but when she didn't respond, I decided just to leave it at that. I don't want to hassle her.

"I just want her to be happy and I guess she couldn't be happy with me anymore. It had got too complicated for her. I can understand that."

Teagan smiled sadly. "How very noble of you."

"That's me. Noble until the end." He paused. "You know, the last time I saw her was actually in this park. We met up for lunch a few days before she told me that she wanted us to take a break. We had such a good time together that I actually thought for a little while that we might be able to work through our problems. But I guess I was wrong. Now I think she just wanted to see me one more time before saying goodbye. Even so, I'm still glad to have that one last good memory of us."

Over the next few minutes, Tarquin slowly described the final hour he'd spent with Jess. He spoke so fondly of her, and with such sincerity, that Teagan almost began to feel as if his pain over losing his mate was a part of her too. He told her how they'd walked hand in hand through most of the park and then stopped to eat in the very courtyard they were both standing in now. And it became clear that the real reason why he came to the park so often probably had nothing to do with the scenery.

By the time he'd finished describing their last moments together, Teagan was almost beginning to wish she had refused to shake his hand so this whole conversation would never have happened. True, she'd enjoyed talking with him at first, but she certainly wasn't anymore.

"I'm so sorry it didn't work out Tarquin," she said after a long pause.

"Me too. But I'm still glad that I got to have her for a while."

She nodded, but couldn't think of anything else to say. Tarquin cocked his head at her. "I'm sorry, Teagan. I didn't mean to upset you, but I think I might have done. Everyone seems to get depressed when I talk about Jess to them. Maybe I should take that as a sign not to bring it up anymore."

"No, no," she said quickly. "I do feel sad, but it's not really your fault. I'm in the middle of a bad day. Besides, it's because I kept asking you questions about her that you told me all of that. I enjoyed most of our conversation."

"But not all of it. Well, I enjoyed most of it too, especially remembering some of the good times I had with Jess. I'm glad I ran into you Teagan." He smiled at her. "But I think I better leave soon. My work is probably already wondering where the hell I am and those ships aren't going to sell themselves."

"Oh…sorry, Tarquin. I didn't mean to keep you for anywhere near this long."

"Hey, it's fine. I had fun. In fact, if you're ever back on Palaven, feel free to look me up. I work in the headquarters for Navis Ships, just call and ask for Tarquin."

"Okay," she said, even though she wasn't sure if she'd ever be back on the turian homeworld again.

"Great. You can let me know how things are going with your turian." He smiled again. "Goodbye for now, Teagan."

She was about to say goodbye back and let him go, but changed her mind. "Wait one more second, Tarquin. I just…I just want to say that, well, I hope you somehow work it out with Jess. You're a good guy, she might realise what she's missing eventually."

"Thanks, Teagan, but I think she made her final decision months ago."

"Well, you never know."

"I just hope she's happy now. Good luck with your mate; Garrus. I hope things work out much better for the two of you."

She looked away from him. "Thanks."

"I…haven't worried you have I? I know my relationship with Jess didn't last, but I still think if a couple are right for each other then it can work out. Even if one of them is a turian and one of them is a human. Maybe I just always cared for Jess more than she cared for me and didn't realise."

"Do you know any examples of a turian and human couple that has worked out?" Teagan asked. She was being almost masochistic about this now, but the question formed in her mind and then somehow almost instantly made its way onto her lips.

"Well, no," Tarquin replied. "But I'm the only turian I know who's dated a human. You just don't get many of your kind on Palaven."

"Oh."

"That doesn't mean there aren't many happy couples out there."

"You could be right. Either way, I better stop giving you the third degree and let you go back to work. I don't want to get you into trouble with your boss."

"It'll be fine. I can be a pretty smooth talker when I want to be." He grinned at her, showing almost all of his sharp teeth, but she only managed a half-hearted smile in return. "Goodbye then, Teagan. Good luck with everything."

"Goodbye, Tarquin."

He strolled rather jauntily away from her, still seeming to be in light enough spirits despite their heavy conversation. Or maybe he was faking it. She didn't know him anywhere near well enough to be able to tell for sure. One thing was for certain though; she felt pretty awful herself.

Dark thoughts were swirling in the back of her mind and she didn't want to face them. She walked over to one of the sculptures and began to run her hands over its surface, hoping the feel of the metal against her skin would somehow distract her.

It didn't work. Instead the thoughts overtook her while she stood alone in the centre of the courtyard, pushing her down into a strange sort of panic.

She was coming to realise just how many difficulties plagued a turian and a human who decided they wanted to be together. To see that her relationship with Garrus might one day end, not because of death or injury, but for other far more mundane and stupid reasons. For one thing, his father and sister had hardly seemed happy to meet her. Hell, very few people actually liked seeing them together outside of the Normandy.

She'd agonised over whether to start this thing with him or not, but since she'd thrown herself in, she'd simply assumed they'd always want to be with each other. Perhaps that had been terribly naïve of her. She wasn't really sure, but then anyone who'd made it to thirty without ever having anything resembling an adult relationship probably would be a little naïve about the whole thing sometimes.

At the moment, there was nothing to suggest that Garrus was reconsidering their relationship, and nothing at all to suggest that he wasn't happy. Thank God. He was still as loving, as giving, as great with her as he'd always been. And she knew that she would never want to leave him. She just couldn't do it. She'd gone without him for a week after the battle with the collectors and had spent the entire time pining for what she'd lost.

However, if it ever seemed like he wanted out of the relationship, then she would have to let him go, just like Tarquin had let Jess go. It would hurt like hell, but she'd do it if she needed to. If there was no other choice. No matter what, she wanted him to be happy. That was what he deserved after all the crap he'd been through.

Hopefully, he would always be happy with her. She'd do everything within her power to make sure that he was. She still had absolutely no desire to end up alone like poor Tarquin had done if she could possibly prevent it.

God, she felt so sorry for him.

Her eyes searched the courtyard, trying to find some trace of her new turian friend, but he was already long gone. For all she knew, he might not even be in the park anymore, but she was still here, standing by herself and panicking for no real reason.

She wasn't entirely alone though. She suddenly realised that there was not only one, but two rengals stalking across the ground to the left of where she was standing. They'd most likely been there the whole time she had, but she hadn't noticed them until now.

As she continued to stare at them, they both stopped moving and looked right back at her with their black eyes. God, she hated them. She couldn't help it. She hated their mottled looking skin, their scraggly feathers, their sharp beaks. And they were both making her feel just as unwelcome and uneasy as that one in the garden had done yesterday.

She had to get away from here.

Teagan forced herself to take a couple of steps back from the birds, then she turned on her heel completely and started to walk in the direction of the park exit. Her pace gradually increased until she was half-running, hoping to somehow move fast enough to leave her thoughts behind her as well as the courtyard and the two damn birds.

She would go back to hotel, cool down, calm down and forget all about her conversation with Tarquin. That was where she was supposed to meet Garrus anyway. He might already be there, waiting for her with a smile on his face that would reassure her about all of this.

After all, he always seemed to be there when she needed him.

….

When Garrus returned to the hotel room, he found Teagan lying on top of the bed, fast asleep and wearing nothing but her vest top and her underwear. Clearly, the tiredness she'd been feeling all day had got the better of her at some point.

A datapad was lying on the floor a few inches from the bed as if she'd been reading it shortly before she'd fallen asleep. Garrus picked it up in one of his hands, while he continued to hold a present he'd just brought for her in the other.

The datapad was probably displaying one of those classic earth novels she loved so much. Most of them seemed to be epic tales of love and loss, and were very different from the sort of thing he'd grown up reading. Turian books were supposed to teach their readers valuable lessons about honour and duty, rather than merely entertain them. They usually chronicled massive battles or charted the struggle of some brave hero to defeat his or her enemies.

Garrus stared down at the human words on the screen in front of him, but he could only make out a few of them. All he needed to do was press a couple of buttons and the text would be translated into his native turian dialect, but he decided not to bother. Instead, he put the datapad down on the bedside table, before gently, quietly approaching Teagan.

Her eyes were still shut tightly and he could see her chest moving with each steady, regular breath. She had curled up on her side in a way that made her seem small and rather vulnerable, but the expression on her face was peaceful.

A few years ago, Garrus would never have believed a human could look as beautiful as she did lying in front of him at that moment, snoring softly. But then no other woman from his past, human, turian, whatever, had ever made him feel the way she did now.

Resting part of his weight on the edge of the bed, he set his present for her on the floor and then leant forward and stroked her cheek. He wasn't sure whether to wake her up or not. He wanted to speak with her, but he didn't think it would be a good idea to disturb her if she needed her sleep.

Just as he decided to leave her be, she began to stir.

"Garrus," she mumbled with her eyes still closed even though her lips were moving.

"Hey, Teagan." He stroked her cheek again. "I got back a few minutes ago. I didn't mean to wake you up. Go back to sleep if you want."

"That's okay."

Her eyes slid open. She stretched out her arms and legs and then propped herself up on one hand. She looked at Garrus sleepily for a moment before glancing at one of the windows. Outside, the light of day was beginning to fade, turning the sky from light orange to a darker brown colour.

She frowned. "It's getting late. How come you're only back now?"

"I stayed at the medical centre for quite a while. Mom was asleep when I got there and I thought if I hung around for long enough she might wake up."

Garrus had found the sight of Teagan asleep a few moments ago to be very sweet and endearing, but the sight of his mother sleeping soundly a couple of hours ago had simply worried him.

She'd been lying on her bed, covered by the same cotton blanket she'd had wrapped around her shoulders the day before. Her room had been shrouded by darkness because all the curtains on the windows were pulled shut, but he'd gone in anyway and sat down on the chair closest to her.

He'd hoped she might wake up if he stayed there for long enough. Eventually, a nurse had come in to check on her and explained to Garrus that she'd had a bad night and was now on a heavy dose of painkillers. Even so, he'd still waited at least another half an hour on the off chance she would stir and then want to talk to him.

She hadn't. He'd had to simply give up in the end. He'd left Solana a quick message just to let her know what had happened and then headed for the exit.

"I probably shouldn't have stayed for as long as I did. It turned out to be pointless anyway," Garrus said. "I just wanted to talk to her, but she didn't wake up. She was on a lot of medication."

"No, it's completely fine. I didn't mean to sound grumpy, Garrus. I'm sorry if I did, and I'm so sorry she wasn't feeling well again."

"Me too."

"God, I should've gone with you. I wished I had done almost as soon as you left me. Tomorrow we can both head over there together and you can stay with her for as long as you like. I don't mind hanging around in that lounge for hours if needs be. I can bring a book or something."

"I appreciate you offering to do that, Teagan, but you really don't have to. You've done more than enough for me already during this trip." He paused. "I, ah, actually got something a present for you on my way back to the hotel to thank you."

"You got me a present?"

"Ah…yeah. It's nothing big though."

She smiled for the first time since he'd returned to her. "What did you get me?"

"Well, at first I was just planning to buy you some more chocolate since you ate the last bar in about thirty seconds. But then I saw something else in a shop window that I thought you'd like more."

He reached down to the floor and picked up his present for her; a bunch of flowers with short stems and a mix of both purple and yellow petals.

"These flowers weren't expensive or anything," he said, "But they reminded me of some of the ones we saw on Mindoir. You know, the ones your mother used to grow near your cabin that you said were your favourite, although these are from Palaven."

Very gently, as if she was afraid of damaging them, she took the flowers out of his hands and then clutched them against her chest. She didn't say anything though. She just stared at them, while he stared at her.

To his horror, she began to cry a moment later. A single tear fell down from both her eyes and then started to dribble down her cheeks.

He instantly started to panic, berating himself for making such a big mistake. What the hell had he been thinking giving her those flowers? As if being reminded about what happened on Mindoir was going to cheer her up. He could be such a blundering idiot sometimes when it came to romance and this was by far the dumbest thing he'd done yet.

"Teagan, I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I didn't mean to do upset you. I was trying to do something nice for you. I saw them and they made me think of you and I thought…Oh, I don't know what the hell I thought. I'm just sorry. I…"

He probably would have continued begging for her forgiveness for quite some time, but she didn't let him get any further.

"Garrus, stop," she said. Although her voice quivered slightly, it still sounded firm enough to get his full attention. "It's okay. I'm okay. You did do a nice thing. A really nice thing in fact. I love the flowers."

"But…they made you cry."

A strange noise, somewhere between a sob and a laugh came from her throat. "Humans don't just cry when they're sad. It can happen anytime when we're feeling very emotional. You giving me these flowers, it just…it just means a lot to me."

"Really?" he asked.

"Really. Thank you. I think it's one of the sweetest things anyone's ever done for me." She wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. "Have I told you before how great I think you are?"

"Yes, but that's something I can always stand to hear more often."

"Well, I really do think you're great. No matter what happens between us in the future, I'll always think that."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing…nothing at all. Come here, Garrus."

In a series of swift movements, she put the flowers to one side, reached up, grabbed his shirt and then tugged him from his sitting position so forcefully that he almost fell on top of her. Luckily, he managed to brace himself on one of his arms and stop his heavy weight from crushing her soft human body.

Even after they had both settled themselves into a far more comfortable position so that were lying on their sides and facing each other, she still didn't loosen her grip on him.

Another tear began to trail down her face. He wiped it away for her this time and then wrapped both of his arms around her.

"Is something wrong, Teagan?" he asked, his voice coming out as a quiet rumble.

There was a slight pause before she answered him. "No. I'm fine now. I'm just glad you're back, Garrus. I went for a walk on my own in a park near here while you were gone and….well, I just ended up missing you a lot."

He knew he should ask her again what was wrong. He really should. He could tell she wasn't being entirely honest when she'd said she was okay. She'd been cheerier earlier when they were out together, but now she seemed to be in an incredibly odd mood.

However, he was afraid if he did ask her again what was wrong then she would admit that this trip was starting to get too much for her. Usually Garrus Vakarian was far from being a coward, but he ran from the chance she might say something like that and remained silent. He just really didn't want to hear it right now.

They lay together on the bed for about five minutes before he finally spoke again. "Teagan?"

She jolted slightly in his arms at the sound of his voice, almost as if she'd been starting to fall asleep again. "Yeah, Garrus?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to go out and get something to eat this evening? We could try one of Palaven's snootiest restaurants. When I was looking at hotels, I found this place that's meant to be famous for its levo and its dextro cooking so we should both be able to order something nice. I know you didn't like what you had for lunch. You kept pulling a face every time you took a mouthful."

"Ah, well, the soup wasn't great. I'd really love to have a nice meal with you tonight, but I thought you might want to visit Solana."

"I'll make time to see her tomorrow. You deserve to have some more fun. I know we went sightseeing this morning, but we couldn't even do that for very long. This is your shore leave too and so far we've spent most of it with my family. Let me do this for you. It'll be my treat."

"That's a very tempting offer, but are you sure you can afford it on a vigilante's salary?"

"Only just, but you're definitely worth it."

"Alright then." She nuzzled her head against his chest. "But let's just stay lying like this for a while longer."

"Sure. Are you still tired?"

"Yeah. I guess so."

"We can stay here all evening if you want. We don't have to go anywhere. We don't have to move from this bed if you don't want to."

She laughed softly. "No, your idea's good. We'll get dressed up and go. Just not quite yet."

Rather than saying anything else, he simply wrapped his arms more tightly around her. He felt her body go completely limp, almost boneless, in his secure hold a moment later.

….

**I know the last few chapters of this haven't been overly happy so I just want to say here that this story is going somewhere and I have no intention of leaving Shepard and Garrus in the middle of an unresolved mess at the end.**

**However, as the old adage goes, nothing worth having is easy.**

**Anyway, enough of my ramblings, thanks again for reading! My laptop is breaking so I'm gonna be stuck on the awful old PC in my living room while it gets sent off for repair. I'm not sure yet if this will affect how fast I update or not. I'm still aiming for a two or three week update anyway.**


	8. Hell is other people

**It's so nice to be back to updating on a Sunday. Updating on a Monday just felt weird and wrong! **

**Thanks for the alerts, favourites and reviews since I posted the last chapter. It all still means a lot to me, especially since I'm continuing to find writing this story quite hard work. And a big thanks to my fellow fanfiction writer, Abyssal Ferret – the advice you gave me last week really was of great help to me.**

**I think an issue raised in one of the reviews of the last chapter should probably be addressed here, just in case anyone else has been wondering the same thing. To paraphrase (rather poorly) the reviewer asked how long Teagan and Garrus had been together, etc, given that she has gone with him to Palaven and met some of his family. Basically, it's been about six weeks since they first slept together, which I know is not that long. However, they first agreed to blow off steam weeks before that and have been friends since ME1. Also, this Shepard never romanced Kaidan or Liara, meaning Garrus is the only LI she's had. **

**So to sum up, they may not have been in relationship for that long before going to Palaven, but they certainly have been very close for a long time. **

**More on the background to their relationship can be found in the prequel to this, Home. But, like I said before, most of this fic will still make sense even if you haven't read Home.**

**Right, onto the new chapter. I think you'll have to put one of the encounters in this update down to Dickensian coincidence and sheer bad luck.**

…**.**

By the time Teagan and Garrus pulled apart from each other and left the bed, it was dark outside. The sun had gone down and Palaven's two large yellow moons had taken its place in the sky.

Garrus wandered over to one of the hotel room windows and began to stare out at the view, while, behind him, Teagan went off in search of something to put her bouquet of flowers in. When he turned round to her again, she'd already found a glass in the bathroom, filled it with water and set it on one of the bedside tables.

He watched as she began to place the flowers into it one by one. Her movements were delicate, precise, and she was clearly doing her best not to crush or tear even one of the petals with her fingers. Despite her tears earlier, she really did seem to love the flowers as much as she'd said. She spent a long time arranging them exactly the way she wanted before her hands stopped moving and she stepped back to admire the swirling pattern of yellow and purple blooms she'd created.

Garrus strolled over to her and wrapped one of his arms around her waist. "That looks nice."

She glanced up at him and he was relieved to see that there were no tears in her eyes anymore, though they still looked a little red. "I think so too. The flowers are just beautiful, Garrus. I know it sounds stupid, but I'm going to be pretty damn sad when they start to wilt."

"Hopefully, that won't happen for a few days yet."

"Yeah. Thanks for buying them for me."

"It was nothing, Teagan. They only cost a few credits."

"It wasn't nothing." Her voice was soft, but firm. "Most guys wouldn't do half of the things that you do for me, Garrus, like buying me these flowers or offering to take me out for a meal tonight just to make me feel better."

"You still want to head to the restaurant then?" he asked, deciding it was probably best to just accept the compliment, even if he did still think she was praising him far too highly.

"Yeah, if you do."

"Definitely."

"Great. I should probably change though. I doubt they'll let me in if I'm only wearing a vest top and my underwear."

"Probably not. I think I better put on something a little nicer too. I would hate it if I didn't look my best for our night out on the town."

After wasting a moment simply smiling in an amused way at each other, they both started to get ready. They spoke only occasionally as they sought out their clothes in their rather messy room and began to change.

When they were both fully clothed again, Teagan did a rather clumsy mock twirl a few feet in front of him. "How do I look?" she asked with one eyebrow slightly raised.

Over the last few days she'd usually dressed very casually, but now she wearing a pair of high heels and the black dress Kasumi had bought for her. The small stretch of leather only really covered her chest, waist and thighs, leaving far more of her body exposed than usual.

She smirked at him as she waited for an answer and he felt strangely flustered. Women of his own species never really wore clothes quite like that. And he was still far more used to seeing her in full armour than in a dress that was clearly designed to attract male attention.

She'd obviously gone to a lot of effort, and it was all for him.

"You look…good," he said. "You always look good to me."

"Even when we've just come out of a fire fight and I'm covered in debris, sweat and God knows what else?"

"Even then."

"You're so damn sweet." She walked over to him with real warmth shining out from her eyes_. _He was pleased to see that they weren't red anymore. "You look good too. I see you're wearing your best blue and green suit for me again."

"It seemed appropriate. I got it for our first night together because I didn't want to turn up at your door in battered armour."

"You…you went to all of that trouble for me even before we were together?" She placed one of her hands on his chest and then began to play with the material of his shirt.

"Mmm," he said simply, staring down at her hand.

In fact, he'd spent an incredibly awkward hour in one of the clothes stores on the Citadel desperately trying to find an outfit she would like. Eventually, one of the asari sales assistants had taken pity on him and had picked out the green and blue suit for him. It had been more expensive than he'd hoped, but he'd still gone into a grocery shop afterwards and bought some levo wine for Teagan. He'd wanted to make sure their night together was special in case it ended up being their only one.

He was so glad he'd made the effort now because they were still together and he was wearing the suit for her again.

"I didn't know that," she said. "God, you really are such a sweetheart, Garrus. I don't know what I did to deserve you."

Before he could say anything back to her, her fingers stopped moving on his chest and she leant up and kissed him. In response, he began to run one of his hands slowly down her back. His talons glided over the smooth leather of her dress before they came to rest on one of her hips.

"You were wearing this dress that night too, weren't you?" he said.

"Yeah, I was. It's my only dress!" She laughed, but then started to speak again in a more nervous voice than before. "It's been a good few weeks, hasn't it, Garrus?"

"Yeah. I'm not used to things going right for me for anywhere near this long."

With a soft smile on her face, Teagan reached up and caressed the scarred side of his face, exactly as she had done weeks before as they stood alone in her quarters before passing through the Omega Four Relay. Warmth seemed to spread out from her fingertips as she touched him, passing first through the damaged plates and then reaching deep inside of him, into his veins, his very bones.

He brought his head down to hers and heard her laugh softly as their foreheads met and they continued to perfectly mimic the first truly intimate moment they'd ever shared together. They stayed standing together like that for a moment, until she ran one her hands up to the back of his neck and kissed him again.

"Are you ready to take this human girl out?" she asked, gently stroking the soft skin on his neck.

"Of course."

"Good." She took his hand in hers. "Then lead the way, big guy."

….

Once outside, they decided to walk the short distance to the restaurant, rather than take a cab. Their route was lit up by hundreds of orange street lamps and the light that was streaming through the windows of some of the tall buildings.

This part of Vectis was generally quieter at night than it was during the day, but Teagan and Garrus were far from being alone. Other couples and groups of people who were clearly out to have a good time were on the streets with them.

Garrus occasionally glanced at one of the passerbys, or at the cityscape itself, but most of the time he kept his eyes on Teagan as they continued to move forward. He could see the muscles in her arms and legs tensing and then relaxing every time she took a step forward since she had no plates covering the exposed parts of her flesh, only soft human skin. She really was so different from a female of his own species and yet he didn't give even the pretty turian women who walked by him so much as a second glance.

Teagan, for her part, kept looking all around her, though her eyes never seemed to focus on any one thing for too long. She didn't seem to be overly relaxed. She was still clutching Garrus' hand with hers and her grip on him kept tightening and then loosening again.

Eventually, she turned towards him. "Garrus, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Teagan. You can ask me anything you like."

"Does it bother you at all when I hold your hand in public?"

"No." He frowned in confusion. "Why would it?"

"Well, none of the turian couples I've seen tonight have been holding hands. I know it's more of a human practice." She paused for a moment. "I don't want to ever make you feel uncomfortable."

"You're not. Maybe turians aren't as into public displays of affection as humans are, but I like holding your hand. There's nothing wrong with what we're doing and I don't give a damn about anyone who thinks that there is." He smiled at her. "So don't worry."

"I'll try not to."

"Glad to hear it. Besides as long as you don't start making out with me or touching my fringe, I doubt we'll get any more funny looks than we usually do when we're out together."

"Why would it be bad if I touched your fringe?"

"Well…as you know our fringes are sensitive. It would be a bit like me putting my hand on your, ah, chest."

"Oh!" She let out a small laugh. "I'll try to contain myself then."

A mischievous smile crossed her face for a moment, but she didn't do anything other than grip his hand slightly tighter.

…

Minutes later, they left the wide street their hotel was on and turned onto smaller one that was lined with brightly lit restaurants and bars. The city was busier here, but Garrus' eyes were almost immediately drawn to a couple of turian men in military uniform. They were standing on unsteady feet about fifty metres away from him and Teagan, swigging from orange bottles and talking to each other in loud drunken voices.

They weren't exactly a wonderful advertisement for the virtues of the turian military. Garrus guessed they were soldiers on leave who had ended up getting more than a little worse for wear in one of the bars. When a turian woman made the mistake of getting too close to them, they started to have a loud conversation about how tight her outfit was. She clearly heard them and immediately sped up her pace.

"Morons," Garrus muttered under his breath to Teagan. Sure, he'd had good times when he was on leave from the military, but he'd never got completely wasted and acted like a jackass in public.

She nodded. "Yeah. I guess they haven't learnt how to handle their alcohol yet. Poor little things."

He chuckled, but deep down he was slightly concerned about what would happen if they noticed that there was a turian and a human walking hand in hand on the other side of the street from them. He got the impression she was too, although neither of them was willing to say anything to that affect.

They knew how to handle confrontation of course, but he felt as if they'd already had to deal with too many difficult situations over the last few days.

In the end, they made it to within ten metres of the two soldiers before one of them looked their way. Instantly, he started to howl with laughter. His dark purple facial markings contorted with amusement and his body shook, causing him to spill some of the amber fluid from his bottle onto the grey paving stones below him.

"Spirits, Kace," he said loudly, barely contained laughter still in his voice. "Look at that turian and his pretty pet human over there. They're all dressed up. It would almost be sweet if that sort of thing wasn't so damn weird."

His friend, who appeared to somehow be even drunker than him, simply contented himself with laughing derisively.

Teagan pulled at her dress with her free hand, but she kept walking and so did Garrus. "Forget what I said before about them being poor little things," she mumbled. "They're just two racist bastards."

She kept her voice low, but the soldier who'd spoken before seemed to realise that she was talking about them. "Oops," he said. "I think the human heard us. We may have upset her."

"Shame," his friend said.

Teagan let go of Garrus' arm, stopped moving and looked directly at the two of them. Her head was turned away from Garrus so he couldn't see the expression on her face, but her whole body seemed to have tensed up. She was clearly pissed.

Across the street, the turian with the purple markings swigged on his drink and then began to call over to her. "Hey don't worry, sweetheart, you're not in danger of getting any more unwanted attention from us. Neither of us would touch you unless there was a cash incentive involved. That turian is only on your arm because he's such an ugly bastard. Spirits, with those scars he'd be lucky to get a turian woman to look at him, let alone…"

Garrus didn't hear the end of his sentence, although he was sure there was more, because Teagan suddenly let out an angry noise and then ran across the street towards them. He stared, dumfounded, at her back for a moment, before following her.

She didn't stop moving until she was only inches away from the turian with the purple markings. "What the _fuck _did you just say about my mate?"

"I think you heard me the first time, though I can repeat it if you want."

"I really wouldn't do that, if I were you." She was staring at the two soldiers with narrowed eyes and a furious look on her face which Garrus had hardly ever seen before.

He gently grabbed her arm. "Teagan," he said before either of the other two turians had a chance to speak again. "Let's just go. They're not worth it. Violence should be a last resort, right? Remember all the lectures you've given me over the years."

Even in battle, she so rarely got this worked up. If one of them was going to lose their head, it was almost always him. She'd had to rein him in more than once in the past and he wasn't at all used to their roles being reversed.

Truth be told, a part of him would have quite happily taken a swing at the two of them after what had been said about Teagan. However, getting arrested for beating a couple of idiots to death with their own beer bottles was not on his agenda for the week. And he was concerned about how strangely Teagan was behaving.

She looked up at him rather hazily, but then she nodded. "You're right. Let's get the hell away from these idiots"

They started to walk down the street again. However, they'd barely taken two steps before the turian with the purple facial markings was yelling at them again. "I'm glad you listened to your friend, human. He doesn't want either of you to get hurt. We're soldiers. He knows what we could do if we got our talons on your weak little body"

Teagan stopped moving and turned to face them once more. "Soldiers? You look more like two little boys playing dress-up. You think you're so brave hurling drunken abuse at strangers in the middle of the fucking street. Anyone could do that you morons, they just don't. I'm a soldier too, and so is my friend here, and we've been fighting far worse scum than you for years. My name's Commander Teagan Shepard, you may have heard of me before."

Her arms starting to glow blue with biotic energy. She made no move to attack either of them, but Garrus could feel the air crackling all around her_._ She looked almost otherworldly, like some fearsome, ancient warrior spirit.

"So," she continued, "Unless you want your heavily inebriated and sexually frustrated bodies smeared up against a wall, I'd scurry away right about now."

They looked at each other for a moment. "Geez lady, calm down," the turian with the purple markings said. "We were just joking with you."

"Hilarious." Her arms returned to their normal pale colour and she looked like herself again. "Now get the hell away from us."

They glanced at each other one more time and then hurried into one of the bars, no doubt to drink until they forgot about their very recent humiliation at the hands of a human.

A few moments after they'd left, Teagan and Garrus started to walk forward again. "Are you alright?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she replied, "I'm fine, because they were 'just joking'."

"You don't sound fine."

"I really didn't like what they said about you."

"They were two drunken idiots. Don't take any of it seriously. I sure as hell won't."

He meant it. He had her; he really didn't care if all turian women thought his scars were hideous or if strangers considered their relationship to be weird. However, he was worried about the effect the whole encounter seemed to have had on her.

"You mean that?" she asked

"Yes."

She searched his face with her eyes as if she still suspected that he was lying to her. After a moment or two, she seemed to be satisfied that he wasn't. She began to reach down towards his hand, but then hesitated. "Are you still okay with me holding your hand in public? I mean, after all of that crap."

"Of course I am. You're my mate and we're supposed to be out having a nice evening together." Her hand was still hanging limply by her side so he pointedly took it in his, squeezing it tightly. "We'll be at the restaurant soon. We can order some good food and forget all about this."

….

They reached the restaurant just five minutes later. Although there was nothing too over the top about the place, it was clear that no expense had been spared in decorating it. The front door was framed by two marble columns and the path that led up to it was surrounded by small circular lights that somehow seemed to be beckoning people to come in. Through a series of large square windows, Garrus could see well-dressed turians and asari sitting around small tables and enjoying extravagant looking food.

Teagan's eyes widened as she took the place in. "Whoa, Garrus, this restaurant really is fancy. I almost feel like I'm not good enough to walk in through the front door."

"I'm not used to this kind of place either," he said. "My parents may have been well-off when I was growing up, but they never spoiled me. I just thought you might like it. Their levo-food is meant to be great. But if you don't want to do this anymore after everything that..."

She didn't let him finish his sentence. "No. That would be stupid. Besides, I'm feeling pretty hungry and it's not every day I have the opportunity to go for a fancy meal with a handsome turian." She flashed him a small smile. "Let's go."

Once inside, they were greeted by a tall turian woman who, to Garrus' immense relief, was nothing but polite to them. She spoke to them courteously and then told them she had an intimate table at the back of the restaurant that would be perfect for them.

Teagan, however, still seemed to be slightly on edge. As they were led across the room, Garrus could see her glancing at many of the other diners. It was almost as if she was trying to gauge their reaction to the two of them. Even after they'd been left them off at their table, she still looked around her a couple of times before picking up one of the heavy menus and beginning to flick through its pages.

"So," Garrus said after a couple of minutes, "What do you think you'll order?"

"Oh…ah, I'm not sure." She sounded distant, but then she looked up at him. "It all seems so nice. It's hard to choose. Do you think they'd let me have a little bit of everything?"

He chuckled. "I doubt it, but you could always ask."

She glanced at the menu again. "On second thoughts, that might not be the best idea. I hadn't noticed the prices. God, Garrus, this place is really expensive. Are you sure you don't mind paying for this?"

"Yes. It's my treat. Get whatever you want."

"Garrus, I know you're trying your best to cheer me up, and I really appreciate it, but I'm not going to waste all your hard-earned vigilante money on food. I'm sure I can find nice stuff at a reasonable price."

"I mean it, order whatever you want, Teagan. "

She nodded, but Garrus got the feeling she still had no intention of doing that. She spent ages looking at the menu with a rather pained expression on her face, before finally making up her mind and then apologising to him for taking so long.

It wasn't until they'd started to eat and drink that Teagan began to relax. By the time they'd finished their first course, Garrus was pleased to see that she looked considerably happier and was no longer paying so much attention to the other diners.

Thanks to the efficient service at the restaurant, they didn't have to wait long before more food and wine was placed on their table. Garrus had ordered one of his favourite dishes for his main course, but he found himself more interested in what was on Teagan's plate. Her meal seemed to mainly consist of some kind of strange edible string with red sauce poured all over it.

"What is that stringy stuff?" he asked her. "I think I've seen other humans eat it before, but it looks so weird."

"Oh, it's just spaghetti," she replied. "It's a type of human food called pasta which is made from an Earth plant."

"What does it taste like?"

"Not much actually. It sort of takes on the flavour of the sauce."

"Is there a reason why it's shaped like that?"

"I honestly don't know. I guess it is strange, but I never would have thought the great Archangel would be fascinated by something like spaghetti!"

She wrapped some of it round her fork and then let out a laugh. Garrus smiled. That was the first time he'd heard her properly laugh since they'd encountered those two drunken bastards out in the street. It was a good sound to hear.

The two of them continued to chat and joke with each other throughout the second course. When they were both finished eating again, Teagan looked at Garrus with a grin on her face.

"This was a great idea," she said. "A really great idea. You've earned a lot of points for this."

"Good." He raised his brow plates. "Are they redeemable?"

"Ha! Maybe. You know, when we're out like this together, I sometimes start to feel almost like a normal human woman. Like I'm not some big starship Commander and the galaxy isn't probably doomed. It's really nice. Thank you for everything you've done for me today."

"Thanks for still being here with me."

"It's alright, Garrus. I know I completely lost my head earlier, but right now there's nowhere else in this galaxy I'd rather be."

"I feel the same way."

He was about to reach for her hand, but the waitress reappeared with their deserts. Garrus had a warm fruit paste placed in front of him, while Teagan was presented with some kind of brown-coloured cake covered in melted chocolate. His teeth hurt just looking at it.

"That looks pretty damn sweet," he said.

"Yep," she replied happily. "I can't wait to get stuck into it. I'm very glad we came to this place."

They both began to eat. Teagan's spoon darted in and out of her bowl at a rapid pace, but Garrus, as was usual, ate more slowly. For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Just as Garrus was about to take his fifth mouthful, however, he heard an excited female voice call his name from somewhere in the room. Bemused, he turned towards the source of the noise with his spoon still dangling in his hand and saw a group of women being seated a few tables away from him and Teagan. One of them was looking right at him and had an amused smile on her face.

He recognised her almost immediately, but sincerely wished he hadn't. Out of sheer politeness he shot her a rather brief and stiff smile back, hoping that would be the extent of their contact with each other. However, she responded by dumping her bag on her chair and then beginning to walk across the room towards him.

"Oh crap," he said without thinking.

"What's wrong?" Teagan asked. "Why is that woman walking over to us?"

"You know that recon scout I told you about in the main battery? That would be her."

"You're joking, right? Tell me you're joking, Garrus."

"No. I'm serious," he said and then nothing else because she was already quite close to their table.

Dressed in a red trouser suit that clung to her waist, she looked good. And she clearly knew it. However, Garrus had absolutely no desire to catch up with her. They'd spent one good night together years ago, but he'd never wanted to repeat the experience or form any kind of lasting relationship with her. They quite simply weren't a good match. Although he could remember her as having some positive traits, and there was no denying she was a great soldier, they'd barely been able to get on most of the time.

When he'd woken up in her bed that one morning, battered and bruised, he'd instantly wanted to leave and go back to his own room. The whole experience had been so completely different from his first night with Teagan, which had felt right from the moment she'd walked up to him and caressed his scars.

Since beginning his relationship with her a few weeks ago, he'd barely thought about the former recon scout -or any other woman from his past for that matter- but now she was right in front of him again.

She came to a stop a couple of inches from their table with a strangely aggressive smile on her face. "Hey, Garrus," she said in an almost mocking tone. "Fancy finding you in a place like this. It doesn't really seem like your scene. I guess it must be a small galaxy after all."

"A lot smaller than you'd think," he replied. "Hello again, Mina."

"So what brings you here, G?" He tried not to flinch when she so casually used her old nickname for him. Usually, she'd called him it mockingly, but he could remember it being said once or twice more affectionately by her and that made him feel very uncomfortable. "Last time I heard you were working for C-Sec on the Citadel, though judging from all the new scars you've got, I guess that might have changed."

"I'm visiting my family in Vectis. But you're right, I'm not C-Sec anymore, I've been serving on a human starship."

"Get fired, did you?" She didn't wait for an answer. "I've changed jobs too; I'm stationed on Palaven now. I'm part of the regiment that guards the imperial palace. Obviously, it's a big step up from being a recon scout on some random ship."

"Congratulations." He was doing his best to say as little as possible. The less he gave away, the more likely it was that this conversation would be over quickly and, damn, he wanted it to be over quickly.

"Thanks!" So far, Mina had completely ignored Teagan, but now she looked towards her. "So who's this you're with? Aren't you going to be polite and introduce us?"

"Oh…right, this is Teagan Shepard. I serve on her ship, the Normandy and she's…she's my mate."

Although Teagan didn't say anything after being introduced, she did offer the other woman a brief, polite smile. She then took a large gulp of her wine.

"Oh!" Mina said. "That's why you're here together, dressed up like…that."

"Yes that would be why."

"How interesting! I guess you picked a nice place for a romantic evening, though I'm here with friends. Guess why?"

"No idea."

"Spoilsport. You're not really being all that talkative, G, but I'm going to tell you anyway. I'm out celebrating because I've just finished negotiating a marriage contract and I'm getting married in a couple of months. Can you believe it? I'll be someone's wife soon! I guess I'll have to settle down a little and put my wild times behind me. Boy, did I have some good ones." She half-laughed, half-cackled. "But you know all about that already, don't you, Garrus? Those ten rounds we sparred for were pretty hard-going. The last one back in my quarters especially took it out of me."

Very rapidly, Garrus was starting to remember just how annoying Mina could be. In the years since they'd served together, he'd put a lot of the tension that had existed between them back then down to nerves and a latent sexual attraction. Perhaps he shouldn't have.

He couldn't believe she'd just made a loud and blatant reference to the one night they'd spent together in front of a packed restaurant and his mate. Although Teagan hadn't shown much of a reaction, he could tell she was annoyed. Possibly very annoyed. Most turians probably wouldn't have noticed the way her mouth tightened and her eyes flashed as Mina spoke, but he certainly had.

He would've wished he'd never told Teagan the story of his night with her, but he wasn't sure if they'd be sitting here together if he hadn't.

"Let's not talk about that," he said. "At all. It was years ago."

"Touchy, aren't you? Fine, I won't mention it again. We've both moved on. I think it's safe to say that I have anyway. My husband-to-be isn't anything like you. For starters, he's not a soldier. He owns a successful manufacturing business and makes gun parts for the turian military. His work is very important and he's a really excellent guy. I wouldn't settle for anything less than that."

She continued to go on and on, and then on some more, about just how incredibly wonderful he was. At some point, Garrus tuned out and started fantasise about the ground swallowing his ex and trapping her somewhere deep beneath their feet. Hopefully so far down that even her voice wouldn't be able to penetrate the rock and reach him and Teagan.

Of course nothing happened. She just kept talking about her husband-to-be, until she eventually decided to change topic slightly and ask him a question. "What about you G? How long have you been with Teagan here?" She looked at both of them with an odd smile on her face.

"A while now." Apparently, he was doomed to be stuck in this conversation forever.

"And how's it been going?"

"Very well, thanks."

"Well, good. I have to admit, Garrus, I never would have guessed that you of all people would have ended up with a human."

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

"You just never showed any interest in humans when we were serving together. In fact, I remember a guy on our ship hooking up with a human on shore leave and then you saying that you didn't understand the appeal of the species."

Somehow, Garrus resisted the urge to throw his fruit paste all over Mina's head. He realised straight away that she was right, he had said that. However, it had been an offhand remark he'd made years ago and then forgotten all about until now.

Perhaps it was true that he hadn't understood the appeal of humans back then. But that was before he'd ever met Teagan, before he'd gotten to know her, before she'd asked him to blow off steam with her. Before they'd spent hours alone in her quarters together.

He'd long since changed his mind.

"Once again, Mina, that was years ago," he snapped. "Things change. I don't know why you brought it up."

She let out a laugh. "Spirits, you're as argumentative as ever aren't you?"

"Me!"

"Come on, Garrus, you know I didn't mean anything by what I just said."

"Sure you didn't."

"I didn't!"

"Fine. Then neither did I."

"Right." She glanced behind her. "Well, I guess I should probably go since we seem to be starting to rub each other up the wrong way just like we used to. I'm sure my friends will all be missing me anyway. Still, it was lots of fun catching up with you, G, we should definitely do it again sometime."

"Yeah…sure."

"Good luck with the whole interspecies thing. You might need it."

"Good luck with your marriage," he muttered. That was not by any means what he wanted to say, but he thought that wishing her well was the best way to get her to finally leave.

"Bye then, Garrus. Bye, Teagan."

"Bye," they both said in tense unison.

In complete silence, they then watched as she sauntered back to her table and sat down with her friends again. A few seconds after she'd re-joined them, loud laughter started to come from their table. Garrus didn't even want to think about what she was saying to them about him, or about Teagan.

"Well, she was just lovely," Teagan said. "Why ever aren't the two of you still together?

He shook his head. "I'm so sorry about all of that. I think she's somehow got more annoying over the years. I wouldn't have thought that was even possible before now."

"It's alright, Garrus. You don't need to apologise to me. It's not your fault. You had no idea she'd be here."

"I suppose not. Look…about that thing I said about humans in the military, well, that was years ago. I changed my mind because of you."

"I know that. You don't have to explain. I understand. Hell, I probably would've said the same thing about turians a few years ago." She paused. "But, God, I'm just so sick of this."

"Of what?"

"Just this day, Garrus. Don't worry. That's all. I can't wait until it's over."

She picked up her wine glass and began to swirl it in her hand, disturbing the previously smooth surface of the blood red fluid inside. She brought the glass up to her lips, drained it and then set it back down on the table.

Her face was miserable again. Garrus was beginning to feel like they were never going to be allowed any proper respite from the long ordeal they'd been going through since arriving on Palaven. Every time things started to go a little smoother for them, something else would go wrong and they would have a new problem to overcome.

"Garrus," Teagan said after a pause, "I think I need to go outside and get some fresh air for a moment. This place feels very stuffy all of a sudden."

"I'll come with you," he said straight away.

"No, that's okay. You don't have to do that." She rose from her seat. "I'll be back with you in just a moment." She didn't wait for him to reply before heading towards the restaurant exit.

Garrus watched her leave and then stared at her half-eaten desert. It was hard to believe that she'd been sitting opposite him, enjoying the slice of cake just ten minutes before. His own desert had barely been touched, but his appetite was completely gone now. He couldn't possibly eat any more knowing that his mate was upset and standing outside in strange city by herself.

He stood up, threw a credit chit down on their table and then strode out of the restaurant. Despite what she'd said, he had to go after her. And he didn't care one iota if that meant leaving both their expensive deserts to go cold and spoil on their table.

When he reached her, she was standing outside the restaurant in a shadowy area between two of the street lamps. Her back was turned towards him, but he could see that one of her hands was raised to her face.

"Teagan," he said softly as he approached her.

She turned round to him. A couple of tears were running down her face. "Garrus…I didn't mean for you to follow me. I'll be alright in a second."

"You're crying again. And not because you're happy."

"I'm sorry. I didn't want you to see me like this."

"I wasn't going to leave you out here on your own."

She let out a small sob. "I wrecked our meal."

"No, Mina wrecked our meal. Anyway, I don't give a damn about that. I'm worried about you. Talk to me, Teagan. Tell me what's wrong. You haven't really been yourself all day."

"I…I just…oh hell, Garrus, I don't know what to say to you. My head's a mess."

"Well, if you find the right words and want to talk about anything, then I'll be right here, waiting to listen."

He knew he couldn't run from facing up to how upset she was again and allow things go on like this. He'd rarely seen her so unhappy. He needed to man up and find out what exactly was bothering her, even if hearing the truth hurt him. If she said she wanted to leave Vectis and go back to the Normandy for a while, then he would have to be fine with it. If she wanted to…well, hopefully, that was the worst case scenario.

She let out a shaky laugh. "Thanks."

After a moment of silence, she sat down on the kerb and gestured for him to join her. He immediately did, but they both stared out at their surroundings rather than looking at each other.

"The sky's beautiful tonight, isn't it?" he said eventually. Sure it was a pointless comment to make, but he really did think the way the two moons were shining down on them was rather nice.

She stared up at a point high above their heads for a moment. "Yeah, it's pretty, I guess. I wish it wasn't so murky though. I can barely see the stars."

"It's always like that. I think it's because of all the radiation on this planet. I guess I'm used to it."

Moments shared between couples under the night's sky were usually so romantic in the vids Garrus watched with Teagan in the comfort of her quarters. But there was nothing particularly romantic about the scene that was playing out between them now. Some sort of sadness seemed to have come over the both of them.

Garrus wrapped his arms around Teagan and simply waited for whatever she was going to say next.

…

**I know that's not a particularly great place to end the chapter so I'm going to do my very best to update in two weeks' time. I don't want to leave you all hanging.**

**Thanks very much for reading :)**


	9. Before the dawn

**Now this chapter is up, this fic is longer than my other multi-part story, Home, by a thousand words. I honestly can't believe how big it already is, especially considering the first thing I posted on this site was a short one-shot!**

**Thanks to the people who reviewed the last chapter. And thanks for the new alerts/favourites.**

**I've noticed that the number of reviews this story is getting has tailed off slightly over the last few chapters so I just want to say here that I would really appreciate getting a bit more feedback again.** **I put a lot of effort into my writing and I genuinely love hearing what people think about my stories. It helps me as a writer and also encourages me to keep on going. **

**Don't get me wrong though, I'm still very grateful for all the reviews I've got so far and I'm definitely not saying that I'll stop writing this if I don't get more. I'm going to do my best to finish the story either way. It would just be nice to hear a little more back :)**

**Random note: I was listening to Super Bass by Nicki Minaj a lot when I wrote this. Even though it's not my usual type of music, I love the song for some reason!**

…**..**

Garrus was no longer entirely sure how long he'd been sitting on the kerb for, but his legs were starting to get stiff from lack of movement. Beside him, Teagan had shifted position slightly and her head was now resting against his shoulder. Her eyes were shut and it almost seemed like she was trying to block out everything except for him.

The street they were on was still fairly busy, despite the late hour, and people passed them by every now and then. Garrus knew they must look odd to them, huddled together as they were in the shadows between two street lamps. But he didn't care about that. All he cared about was making Teagan feel better. He was desperate for her to cheer up, and for things to be completely normal between them again.

Although he'd told himself that he'd stay with her for as long as she needed him, the truth was that he didn't ever want their relationship to end_. _He hated the thought of simply being her faithful friend again. He wouldn't be able to touch her hair whenever he wanted to or grasp her small hand in his anymore. He wouldn't be able to hold her like he was right now. He'd have to get used to spending his nights alone again and not having her soft body beside him when he woke up in the morning.

She was his one good thing. The one thing that had been going completely right in his messed up life.

He needed her.

"Teagan," he said, no longer able to bear the silence, "Are you feeling any better yet?"

"No," she mumbled. "Not really."

He gently nuzzled the top of her head. "Then talk to me. There's no point in us just sitting here like this all night. I admit I'm no Kelly Chambers, but talking to me still might help. You can say anything to me. You know that, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do." She opened her eyes. "I guess I can try, Garrus. But I can't guarantee that I'm going to make a whole lot of sense right now."

"That's okay; I think I know you well enough now to be able to decipher whatever comes out of your mouth."

"You always manage to work out just what to say to me, don't you?"

"I try my best."

She laughed very faintly and then raised her head off his shoulder so she could look him in the face. However, she still seemed very unsure of what to say next.

"Come on, Teagan," he urged. "Tell me what's wrong so I can help."

"I just think…I…" She stopped dead and shook her head in what seemed to be frustration. "God, Garrus, the last few days have just been so fucking hard. No one seems to be happy to see us together. Not your family or anyone else for that matter."

"Is that why you've been so upset today?"

"Sort of." Although the light was dim where they were sitting, he still noticed that she avoided his eyes as she spoke. "Before we came to this bloody planet, I honestly never realised how difficult things could get for an interspecies couple."

"Well…I think most of the Normandy's crew are happy that we got together, and I'm definitely happy about it. Aren't you?"

"Of course I am, Garrus. We're so good together, but I just…I just…"

"What? What are you trying to tell me, Teagan?" His voice came out desperate, though he hadn't meant for it to sound that way at all. He wasn't entirely sure what was coming next, how bad it was going to be, and he hated that. He still hoped, somehow, that everything was going to work out just fine and dandy between them. And that maybe she wouldn't even want to leave him alone on this planet and hide out on the Normandy for the remainder of their shore leave.

She took in a long, rather shaky breath, then finally said, "Do you remember checking to make sure I didn't want something closer to home when we first got into this?"

He looked at her in confusion. "Yes."

"But I never really asked you the same thing, Garrus."

"Well…no, I don't think you did."

"I…I just decided I wanted to blow off steam with you and then, after messing you about for ages, that I wanted to try having a proper relationship with you. And that was it. I just pulled you along with me the whole time. Now things are quite serious between us and that's good, really good, but we're always going to be different. Some people will always hate what we have together. I love you so much, Garrus, but I just think you should know that if you ever…" She gulped in some air. "If you ever change your mind about us, then that's okay. After the last few days, I really wouldn't blame you if you did. Obviously, I'd much rather we stay together, but I'd get over it, you know…eventually."

As the meaning of her words hit him, Garrus felt all the awful tension that had become entrenched in his body during the course of the evening start to dissipate. She still loved him. She still wanted to be his mate. She was simply worried that he might start to want out of their relationship at some point, and those worries were so completely unneccessary. No matter what difficulties they had to face to stay together, he knew he wouldn't want to end things with her. It would be like tossing aside an integral part of himself. He couldn't believe she hadn't realised that.

But then again, he'd also been starting to think that she might not want to stay with him and he clearly shouldn't have.

She smiled at him. "I just want you to be happy, Garrus."

"Is that the real reason you've got so upset about all of the crap we've been through since leaving the Normandy?" he asked. "You're afraid I could end up deciding that I want out of this?"

"I guess, a little, maybe." She paused for a few seconds. "Yes."

"Well, don't be," he said simply. "Thank you for trying to be all selfless and noble, but it's just not going to happen."

She frowned. "But, Garrus, this whole trip I've made things so much harder for you, even though I came along to help. You've been insulted by old friends and strangers on the street because of me! And I only complicated things when you were with Solana and your father."

"That's not true, Teagan. You're getting this all wrong. Knowing I have you now makes getting through every day so much easier."

He'd gone from waking up on the floor of the cold main battery each morning to spending the early hours nestled in a warm bed with someone he loved, and who loved him back. He couldn't even begin to explain how much better his life seemed now. And nothing damn Mina, his father or anyone else could say could possibly change that.

"You haven't changed your mind about us, have you, Teagan?" he said.

"No." There was no doubt, no quiver in her voice.

"Then why the hell would I? You've been treated worse than me most of the time. You need to stop worrying about this." He gently cupped her face in his hands. "I know I'm not always so great with words, but please just listen to me, I still want to be with you and I have no intention of going anywhere. Not now, not even a few years down the line."

"You really do mean that, don't you, Garrus? Even after all of this."

"Yes."

"Thank God." The words came out of her mouth almost like a sigh of relief and as she said them her whole body seemed to become more relaxed.

"I told you I'd always be here when you need me, and I will. It's that simple. Okay?"

"Okay," she repeated.

"Good." He leant down and pressed his forehead against hers for a couple of seconds. "I was starting to worry that I was going to have to try to come up with some long-winded, mushy speech to reassure you."

Maybe it was a little early for him to attempt to tease her about all of this, but so much of their relationship was based around joking with each other and finding humour in situations that would have left most people stony-faced. Even when they'd been taking on the collector base, he'd still made a few wisecracks and so had she.

She chuckled softly. "Just out of curiosity, what would that have gone like?"

"Ah…well, I suppose I might have used some of the human poetry you read as inspiration and started off by saying that you've enraptured my soul. Or I could have been more turian about the whole thing and told you, in great detail, about how much I want to honour and protect you."

"Sounds interesting, but I think I prefer what you've said already. I feel better now, Garrus."

"I'm glad. But what, ah, made you get so worried about us in the first place, Teagan? I mean, did I do something or say something without realising it? Because if I did…"

"No, no," she said before he could get any further. "It wasn't your fault. Like I said, I've found the last few days really hard and earlier I…I…

"You, what?" he prompted

"Oh God, Garrus, I already know this is going to sound stupid when I say it out loud. When I was in that park earlier, I bumped into a turian who used to date a human woman. He was such a lovely guy, and I was having a great time talking to him, but then he told me their relationship broke down because her family didn't approve and the whole interspecies thing got too much for her. It really freaked me out."

"What the hell has that got to do with us?"

"Well…nothing exactly."

"Teagan, just because things didn't work out for them, doesn't mean the same thing will happen to us."

"I know that really. I just started to panic. I'm sorry, Garrus. I didn't mean to put you through any of this. You've got enough to deal with already."

She looked upset again. Garrus knew she felt guilty about the rather strange turn their evening had ended up taking, but he wasn't annoyed with her. Far from it, he was just glad they'd finally started to talk things through properly and wanted to take that pained expression off her face for good.

"It's alright, Teagan," he said. "I understand. I guess if I'm being completely honest I was starting to worry a little about us too." He tried to play the line off as if it wasn't a gross understatement of what he had actually been feeling. "I thought having to deal with my family and everything else might make you decide I just wasn't worth the effort."

"You…you thought that because of what happened when we got back from the collector base, didn't you?"

"No. It wasn't just because of that. As I'm sure you've noticed, things have a pronounced habit of going wrong for me."

"Well, as long as you still want me, I'm not going anywhere either. I don't know what I'd do without you by my side now."

She looked so earnest as she spoke that Garrus had to fight back a strange urge to laugh. Perhaps it was just the relief of hearing her say something like that and knowing for sure that she meant it.

"I thought you said you'd be okay if I ever wanted out of this?" he said.

"Oh…yeah. That may have been a bit of a white lie."

He chuckled. "So…we're both still in this for the long haul then?"

"Looks like it." She smiled. "Though I may shoot the next person who criticises us."

"That's probably not the best idea you've ever had. For one thing, it won't do much to help turian and human relations."

"Maybe not, but I'm a spectre. I could probably get away with it somehow or other."

They laughed together for a second and then both fell silent. But the quiet that began to stretch out between them felt more relaxed than anything else to Garrus. Without another word being said, Teagan lay her head back down on his shoulder and he began to stroke her hair with one of his hands. They stayed like that for a long moment until she eventually began to shuffle beside him and he was forced to take her talons out of her hair so he wouldn't rip any of it.

"I don't mean to sound unladylike and crass," she said, raising her head off his shoulder, "But I think my ass is going to go completely numb if we sit here like this for any longer."

"Do you want to head back to the hotel then?" he asked.

"I guess we could just do that. But this doesn't really seem like a fantastic way to end our big night out on the town."

"Well…I do know a good bar a few minutes walk away from here. It was one of the places I used to go to when I was back here visiting my family on shore leave and I needed some time to myself. The owner's a great guy and he's married to an asari so we shouldn't get any hassle there. It's not fancy or anything, but I always liked it."

"Hmm. I guess a couple more drinks would be nice."

"Let's go then. I mean, what else could really go wrong for us today?"

"God, Garrus, don't say that! You'll curse us," she said, but there was amusement in her voice. "Alright, the bar it is. Lead the way."

"With pleasure."

He stood up, gently pulling her with him. Then, arm in arm, they started to walk forward, leaving the shadowy spot where they'd been sitting for the last half hour or so behind them.

Neither of them bothered to look back.

….

After a brief stroll through the brightly lit streets, they were soon standing in front of the bar. Garrus could tell Teagan wasn't overly impressed with the look of the place, though she still seemed game enough to go inside. He knew himself that it wasn't the nicest establishment they'd come across tonight. In fact, compared to restaurant they'd eaten in earlier, it was a bit of a dive. It only had one, slightly dirty window facing out onto the street and the sign over the door simply said "Rilas' Bar" in plain black letters.

Garrus didn't remember it being any more auspicious on the inside, and, for that reason, it had always struck him as the type of place that the rest of his family would hate. But he had liked it from his first visit. The place had offered a nice contrast to his quiet, organised and clean childhood home, and the owner, Rilas, had struck him as being a great guy almost as soon as they'd met.

He'd treated Garrus as if he was an old friend of his even when they'd barely known each other. Garrus guessed that he probably acted that way with all his customers, but the barman had always recognised him when he'd called in, no matter how long it had been since his last visit. Over time, Garrus had come to know Rilas well, learning many details about his life, like how he was married to the asari who sometimes helped him out behind the bar and had two children with her. Although he had remained more closed off, Garrus had occasionally revealed bits and pieces about himself too.

He had good memories of visiting the bar, relaxing with a few cheap drinks in front of him and chatting with the old barman who, unlike his father, never bothered to waste time judging him.

When he walked through the front door with Teagan, he was pleased to see that very little had changed since he'd last been there. The décor was still plain, with people drinking in dimly lit booths, and old Rilas was still the one standing behind the bar. It was almost like he was just another part of the furniture.

He had a large glass in his hand and was in the middle of polishing it with a grey cloth that didn't appear to be particularly clean to Garrus. He had a look of concentration on his grizzled face and failed to notice when the human and turian couple who had just come in the front door approached the bar. Even once they standing directly in front of him, he still didn't look up.

"Ah…hello, Rilas" Garrus said after a moment or two, with perhaps just a little hesitance in his voice. It had been a few years since his last visit to the bar and he'd certainly never come in with a human on his arm before. He also was very aware of the fact most of the other supposedly fun things he'd tried to do with Teagan that day hadn't ended up going particularly well.

Thankfully, Rilas immediately smiled when he saw the two of them. "Garrus Vakarian!" he exclaimed, putting both the cloth and the glass down, "Welcome back to my bar."

"Nice to see you again, Rilas," Garrus said.

"It's been a few years since you were last here, hasn't it, Garrus? But I never forget a face. Although I have to say yours has changed quite a bit. What happened?"

"I've been doing a lot of, ah, travelling over the last couple of years and had a little accident a few months ago."

"Somehow I doubt the accident really was a 'little' one, but I'm glad you've recovered and come back here. What brings you to Palaven?"

"I'm visiting my family as usual."

Rilas nodded his head in a friendly way towards Teagan. "And who's this with you?"

"My, ah, mate, Teagan. We've been serving on the same ship together."

"Nice to meet you, Teagan." He held out his hand to her. "This is how humans say hello, isn't it?"

"Yes, that's right," she replied, taking his hand in hers and shaking it firmly.

"I thought so. You'd be surprised how much you pick up in this line of work. It's nice to see Garrus come in here with someone else for a change. Usually, he just sits in a corner with a few drinks for company."

"It's nice to be here with him."

"So how long have you two been mates?"

"A while now," Garrus replied.

"And it's been going very well," Teagan added, glancing briefly, but warmly in his direction. "Pretty much all of the time anyway."

Rilas smiled at her. "I don't know if Garrus has told you, Teagan, but the three of us have something in common. I'm in an interspecies relationship as well. I'm married to an asari. Have been for years now. I always like coming across other couples like us, and the two of you strike me as a good pair."

Although Garrus knew that Rilas hadn't said anything hugely significant, he felt a sudden rush of gratitude towards him. It was just so nice to find someone who clearly didn't have a problem with Teagan being his mate. He supposed that Solana and his father could have reacted worse when they'd found out about their relationship, but they clearly hadn't made Teagan feel welcome.

Sure, Rilas was only a barman who Garrus had probably met less than thirty times in his life, but the fact that he seemed to be happy for them did still mean something to him. And from the smile that was now on Teagan's face, he guessed it meant something to her too.

"Thanks, Rilas," Garrus said. "How's your wife at the moment?"

"Oh, Nixie's doing fine. She's out the back right now, keeping herself busy by sorting through the stock or something like that."

"And what about your two daughters?"

"They're good too, though they're both off-world at the moment. It's just been me and Nixie in the house for a few weeks. We've missed the girls of course, but it's been good for us to have some time to ourselves for a change. I'm pretty proud of the fact that we're still able to stand each other after all this time. Our wedding day was more than fifty years ago now."

"I didn't realise the two of you had been married for so long," Garrus said. "That's pretty impressive."

"Why, thank you, Garrus. You never know, the two of you might be celebrating your fiftieth wedding anniversary one day."

Teagan let out a laugh. "Well, we live dangerous lives, but it would be nice if we somehow live long enough to reach a milestone like that."

Her tone stayed light and Garrus knew she meant what she'd just said as a joke. She probably hadn't even thought it through properly. But his heart, unlike his brain, didn't quite seem to understand that and began to thrum harder in his chest in response to her words.

"You should be less pessimistic, Teagan," Rilas said. "You've both made it this far haven't you?"

"I guess that is true," she said.

"See? Now, what can I get the two of you? I'm sure you don't want to stand here chatting to an old codger like me all night"

"I'll have a beer," Garrus said. "What about you, Teagan?"

"I'll have the same, except you better make it the levo-version," she replied.

"Sure thing," Rilas said, before starting to rattle around behind the bar. When he turned round again, he had two amber-coloured bottles and a glass containing a strange pink fluid in his hands. He set all three drinks down in front of them. "Here's your two beers and also a special levo-cocktail for you Teagan. It's on the house. I figure you deserve it for putting up with Garrus."

"You really don't have to do that," she said. "Garrus doesn't give me all that much trouble."

"Ah, but I insist. It's ten credits for the beers." Garrus paid up and then Rilas smiled at them the two of them. "Have a good evening. Remember, there's plenty more alcohol behind the bar if you get thirsty again later."

They both thanked him rather profusely and then headed with their drinks clutched in thair hands to a booth in the very corner of the bar that had a small wooden table set in front of it. Garrus sat down first and then Teagan shuffled in beside him. She left so little gap between them that he felt like she was almost sitting in his lap. But he didn't mind that at all. In fact, he wrapped one of his arms around her and urged her body to move even closer to his.

….

An hour, and a few more drink purchases later, Garrus was feeling so relaxed that he was struggling to stay upright in his seat. The bar had become rather hazy around him and his focus had narrowed so that all he was really aware of was the quiet corner that he was sharing with Teagan. His senses felt duller than usual, but in some ways that was kind of nice. It was far easier to pretend that nothing existed in the universe apart from him and Teagan.

She was still sitting close to him and was currently taking sips from a blue-coloured cocktail with an unguarded, happy expression on her face. Although they'd both been drinking, she was considerably more tipsy than him because Rilas kept insisting on giving her a free cocktail whenever one of them went up to the bar.

They'd only drunk together like this on one other occassion. A few weeks before, they'd joined Kasumi in her quarters at the end of a hard day's work and she'd made an assortment of strangely coloured drinks for them to enjoy. After spending a couple of rather blurry hours with her, they'd then stumbled back to the captain's cabin where they'd promptly fallen into bed with each other. It had definitely been a good night, although Garrus had spent his next shift trying to do calibrations with a splitting headache.

This night would probably be something he would look back fondly on one day too. True, things hadn't been going so great for them earlier in the evening, but they seemed to be alright now. And that's what he would remember in a few weeks' time.

With a smile on his face, Garrus watched Teagan take another sip of her cocktail and then lean back against him. Half of the fluid was gone even though he'd only brought it over to her a few minutes ago.

He nodded his head towards her drink. "What does that taste like?" he asked.

"It tastes blue, Garrus," she replied. "Does that make any sense to you?"

"Not really."

"Well, it also reminds me of this juice drink my parents used to give me as child, but that probably doesn't help you much either."

"Ah…no."

She sipped the drink again. "It's definitely nice anyway. I have to admit, I wasn't sure of this place at first, but Rilas is lovely and it's really grown on me. I'm having a lot of fun."

"Glad to hear it. I figured if we both got drunk enough we might start to forget about having to deal with Mina and my father, and all the other crap we've been through over the last couple of days."

She laughed. "Good plan! But, God, I still can't believe we bumped into one of your exes."

"Me neither."

"I always try to find the best in people, honestly I do, but I'm afraid her good points still somehow managed to escape me. She, ah, isn't the kind of person I ever would've pictured you with before tonight."

"In my defence, I only slept with her the one time."

"Yeah…I know. Did you do that sort of thing a lot?"

She asked the question casually, but Garrus still decided to word his answer with care. "Uh…I guess I did back when I was still in the military, mainly as stress relief. But I had a long dry spell before you."

"Sounds like you were quite the ladies' man for a while though, Garrus."

"I did okay, but I wasn't nearly as bad as some of the other turians I served with." He shrugged. "I was young, I wanted to have fun. Weren't you like that too?"

"Actually...no. I was a _really_ late starter when it came to having sex. I found it so hard to let people get that far with me." She caught his eye. "You're the first man I've ever felt completely comfortable with, Garrus. What age were you the first time?"

"Fifteen," he replied. "It, ah, happened just before I left home to go to boot camp. I'd been seeing this girl from my academy for a while. She was heading off to the military too and I guess we wanted to do it while we still had a chance. It was nice and all, but I knew I'd probably never see her again once we started our training."

After they'd inevitably lost touch with each other, Garrus had been sad for a while, but he'd got over it. He knew now he hadn't loved her. What he'd felt for Mina hadn't been love either. Not even close in that case. The only girl he'd ever loved was sitting in front of him right now.

"It doesn't really matter how many women there were in my past or what age I was the first time," he added. "I'm with you now, Teagan, and I don't want anyone else."

"I feel the same way."

"That's a relief. I don't want to sound selfish or anything, but the thought of sharing you with someone else doesn't really appeal to me all that much. You're the best thing I have."

"Does that mean you care about me more than your beloved sniper rifle?"

"Oh, yeah. Definitely."

She smiled at his words and her whole face seemed to light up. For a moment, she looked almost radiant to Garrus and, perhaps more importantly, very happy.

No one else ever seemed to be able to make her smile the way he could. Admittedly, she hadn't smiled anywhere near as much as she usually did over the last few days. At times, she'd looked downright miserable. But she was definitely back to acting far more like her usual self now.

….

After having one last drink each, the two of them finally started to make their way out of the bar, leaving many empty glasses behind on their table. When they were almost at the door, Rilas called them over to him so that he could wish them both well. They had another short, but friendly exchange with him before they finally made it outside and began to head towards their hotel. Although it went unsaid between the two of them, it was clear that they were both keen to make it back to the privacy of their room as soon as possible.

Unfortunately though, Teagan was a bit unsteady on her feet. With so much alcohol in her system, she seemed to be finding a lot harder to walk in her high heels than she had been earlier.

She tried valiantly to just keep on going. However, after a stumbling a couple of times despite Garrus' efforts to support her, she gave up the fight. She hobbled over to a short staircase that led up to the front door of an apartment block, took off her shoes and then sat down on the top step. Garrus followed her.

Just like that, they were sitting together under the night's sky for the second time in the one evening. But it was later now, the streets were quieter and they seemed to be the only people outside for at least a quarter of a mile. More importantly though, the sadness from earlier had gone. They were both much happier, if a little worse for wear, and there were definitely a few more romantic sparks crackling between them.

Garrus took her hand in his and they stared up at the sky together.

"You were right, you know," she said.

"Well, that's always good to hear, Teagan, but what was I right about?"

"The sky. It really is kind of beautiful. I mean it's murky and all, but it's a nice brown colour and the two moons are so large and shiny. It's different, but not in a bad way."

"Maybe you just needed a gallon of alcohol in your system to properly appreciate it."

"I am not drunk!"

She attempted to punch him on the shoulder, but swung wide, allowing Garrus to take hold of her arm. He brought her hand up to his face and then gently nipped her wrist. "Whatever you say, Teagan. Drunk or not…" She glared at him, "I'm glad you're here to share it with me. You know, I used to stare up at the sky at night through my bedroom window all the time as a kid and wonder what exactly was out there. How many worlds hadn't been found yet and were still waiting to be discovered. Did you ever do that?"

"Yeah. A few times I even snuck out of my house at night so I could lie in one of our fields and just stare up at all the stars. But I never thought I'd actually get to travel through space myself. I really did think I'd stay on Mindoir forever…and ever. The best laid plans…" She trailed off. "But, hey, I've had good times out there. Most of them with you."

"We have definitely had some good times together. I sometimes fantasised about exploring the galaxy as a kid. Now I'm actually doing it. I really can't complain."

"Did you imagine you'd fall for your human Commander and start a crazy interspecies relationship?"

He chuckled. "No, I can't honestly say I ever did, but that's definitely been a nice addition to the whole fantasy."

She smiled at him. "I love you, Garrus."

"I know, Teagan. That's the second time you've told me this evening. Not that I mind hearing it."

"I don't think you realise how much I love you though."

"Maybe I'm starting too."

"You're my best friend. You've stuck by me through everything. I'm so glad that you don't care that I'm a human and you're not."

"Ah…thanks. I love you too, Teagan."

She kept smiling at him sweetly for a moment and then lurched forward and kissed him.

Things suddenly got very blurry for Garrus and not just because of the number of drinks he'd gone through earlier. He could be stone cold sober and Teagan's touch would have a strong effect on him. Even if she just gently brushed his hand with her fingertips, it was sometimes enough to make his whole arm tingle. To make him want more from her.

Her touch wasn't particularly light now though. Garrus shut his eyes and savoured the feeling of her soft lips against his hard mouth and her hands on his body. Vaguely, he was still aware of the fact that they were outside, but began to touch her back anyway. He placed one of his hands on her hip and buried the other in her hair. He couldn't stop himself. Well, okay, maybe he could have done, but he didn't want to. They loved each other and they were getting caught up in a romantic moment like any couple, regardless of species, might do.

He was just about to run the hand that was resting on her hip down even lower when he heard a series of strange snapping sounds. He had no idea where the noises had come from, but they were still enough to bring him back to his senses and make him realise that things were maybe starting to go too far. They were still out in public and not only was one of Teagan's hands on his fringe, but the other had managed to undo part of his shirt and slip underneath onto his chest plates. Even worse, she'd slung her left leg over his and well was on her way to straddling him.

She tried to kiss him again, but Garrus pulled away from her_. _Since he was more sober than her, he was clearly going to have to be the sensible one out of the two of them and put a stop to this.

She frowned. "What's wrong?"

"I think I heard something. We might not be completely alone out here."

"It could be all the cocktails, but I don't think I care all too much about that right now." She leant forward and trailed a series of small kisses down his neck.

Garrus did his best to ignore her, though it wasn't easy. "Are you sure about that? You said you didn't want to get arrested for indecent exposure yesterday, but if you keep touching me like that then I'm afraid we might both end up in a holding cell."

She straightened herself up. "Okay, maybe you have a good point."

"Yeah. We can continue this properly back at the hotel anyway."

"That sounds nice."

"I wholeheartedly agree."

In rather precise detail, he could already picture her lying on the bed, stripped bare and with the moonlight shining on her pale skin. She would have that look on her face, the one that told him that she wanted him. And he would go to her and give her exactly what she was asking for.

Feeling impatient all of a sudden, Garrus stood up and scooped her into his arms_._ He nipped her neck just once before rather reluctantly depositing her back down onto her feet.

"Come on," he said, wrapping his arm around her, partly to make sure she didn't fall flat on her face. "Let's go back to the hotel."

...

Walking the remainder of the journey took them far longer than it normally would have done, mainly because Teagan kept having to stop to rest her feet. With every moment that passed, Garrus became a little more desperate to get her alone in their room. Two days had already passed since they'd last made love. Fair enough, that was normal for most couples, but it hadn't been for them up until now, and tonight he wanted her, and he was sure she wanted him too.

When they eventually reached the hotel, they tried not to make too much noise as they hurried towards their room. However, Garrus was not entirely sure of how good of a job they did. Teagan kept giggling and it was pretty damn hard not to start laughing himself. He was very relieved when he finally managed to unlock their room after fumbling repeatedly with the door pass and they both made it safely inside.

As soon as the door slid shut again, Teagan strode over to the bed without uttering a single word to him. After kicking off her shoes, she draped herself across it with a rather becoming smirk on her face that, thankfully, he'd only ever seen her use on him.

"Get over here, Garrus," she said.

"Ah...just a sec," he replied.

He tried to remove his own shoes just as quickly, but struggled somewhat with the task. Although he managed to throw them both aside soon enough, he ran into trouble again while attempting to take off his shirt.

Once he was divested of all his clothing except his pants, he turned back round to Teagan, only to find that her eyes were sliding shut. He watched her for a moment, hoping she would open them again, but she didn't. Instead, she slumped rather unceremoniously onto her side, not seeming to care that her hair had fallen all over her face. A soft snoring noise began to come out of her mouth a few seconds later and that was it, she was fast asleep and gone from the waking world.

Garrus knew she probably wouldn't mind if he tried to wake her, but he didn't quite have the heart to do it. She looked strangely peaceful, despite the fact that she was still wearing her evening dress and lying on top of the bed rather than in it, and he hadn't forgotten how badly she'd slept the night before.

Without bothering to take off his pants, Garrus walked over to the bed and set himself down beside her. She immediately nestled closer to him, seeking him out even in her sleep. More hair fell over her face as she moved so he brushed it away before wrapping both his arms around her. Then he simply shut his eyes and lay still, waiting for sleep to claim him too.

They could finish what they'd started in the morning. Neither of them was going anywhere after all.

…..

**So, I'm just about to start University again to take a Masters in Public Relations since things haven't been going all that well for me career-wise lately. A little over a year ago, I was working as a full-time medical journalist but I was made redundant and have been unable to find another full-time post since then. It's been a pretty hard year for me in some ways.**

**Anyhow, the reason I'm saying this is that I know very soon I won't have any time to write fan fiction, or fiction of any sort for that matter. However, I'm so far into this story that I just can't seem to quit it (even though I have considered it at times). Instead, I'm going to try to get this story finished before I get too deep into the course. I'm hoping that I can get the last three chapters up before the end of October.**

**The next one should post in two week's time if everything goes to plan…**

**Thanks again for reading :)**


	10. The morning after

**Thanks so much to everyone who responded to my plea for more reviews last month. I thought at most that I'd get one or two more than usual. I was feeling stressed out about going back to uni and getting feedback from so many people really did make my week a hell of a lot better. You guys rock :)**

**A big thanks as well for all the new alerts and favourites.**

**As you may have already noticed, the rating on this fic has gone up to M. The change is because of a bit of smut in this chapter, but there's nothing too explicit in here. I was trying to make the scene more meaningful than anything else. Hopefully that comes across in the text!**

**All the smut is basically in the first half of this update, so, if you don't like that sort of thing, you can skip it and go to below the mid-way divider (a series on dots halfway down the page). In a weird way, this chapter is a bit like two smaller chapters stuck together. I would've posted them separately, but then the word count would have been ridiculously low on both of them.**

**Anyway, enough from me, onto the chapter…**

….

Teagan came round slowly, realising as her senses began to return to her that she was lying with Garrus on top of the comfy bed in their hotel room. No blankets covered her body and she was still wearing her leather evening dress, but his strong arms were wrapped around her, keeping her warm and snug.

The night before was a bit of an unfocused blur in her usually sharp mind. Aside from needing to go to the bathroom though, she didn't feel all that bad considering how many drinks she'd tossed down in the bar.

The last thing she could remember was arriving back in the room with Garrus, throwing herself with very little grace across the bed and then waiting impatiently for him to undress and join her there. Evidently, she'd fallen asleep before he'd been able to.

Slowly, she opened her eyes and saw that it was now morning and that streams of orange sunlight were making their way across the room through the windows. In front of her, Garrus was still fast asleep. His eyes were shut and his chest was moving slowly in and out with each regular breath he took. He looked very peaceful in a way he, unfortunately, only rarely did when he was awake. She wondered if he was dreaming about anything, almost wishing she could see right through his plates and bones to whatever was going on in his head. But she couldn't of course, so she contented herself with simply watching him draw in breath after breath as he continued to sleep soundly beside her.

She probably would've been happy to stay with him like that for hours, but unfortunately nature began to call her increasingly insistently.

Doing her best not to disturb him, she eased herself out of his hold and made her way to the bathroom. Once there, she spent a few minutes freshening up and trying to make herself look more presentable. She also finally removed the leather dress, dumping it on the floor with her underwear, before slipping into one of the cosy white robes that the hotel had provided for the two of them.

By the time she returned to the bed, Garrus had moved slightly, but he was still asleep. One of his arms was now outstretched, and his hand open, almost as if he'd tried to reach out for her across the mattress while she'd been gone. Well, she was back now. Even though there'd only been ten metres of air and one door between them when she'd been in the bathroom, she hadn't much liked the two of them being separated either.

With a soft smile on her face, she lowered herself down to the bed and took her place beside him. She wrapped his arm around her again and felt him grip her waist surprisingly firmly for someone who was asleep.

Her body gradually relaxed in his hold, but she kept her eyes open and began to simply watch him again. She didn't think it would be possible for anyone to love their mate more than she loved the turian in front of her. He'd been unbelievably good to her when she'd been upset, doing so much to try to cheer her up and then calming all of her ridiculous worries simply by talking with her. Maybe the whole time all she'd needed was for him to tell her that he had no intention of going anywhere, that he loved her and that nothing had changed between them despite everything they'd gone through.

She should have talked to him as soon as she'd started to get worked up. She should've known that's what he would say. She'd acted like an idiot. However, things had turned out okay anyway. The difficulties they'd faced since coming to Palaven had forced their relationship through its first real test, but it had passed easily, rather than merely scrapping through.

Some people were always going to hate what she had with him because they couldn't, or wouldn't, understand it. That much was clear. But their disapproval and pettiness wasn't going to be enough to break the bond between the two of them and rend them apart from each other. They wanted to stay together too much. Hell, even though he was asleep right now, he was still holding onto her tightly. And that was just fine by her. The galaxy was massive and messy, but she felt like she was exactly where she was supposed to be. Her days of drifting along by herself were long over.

Smiling again, Teagan leant forward and began to kiss his face, first pressing her lips to his brow plates and then to both his cheeks. When she reached his small, flat nose and planted another soft kiss there, he finally started to stir.

"Garrus," she whispered into his ear. "You still alive after last night?"

A noise somewhere between a grunt and moan came from his mouth before he answered her. "Yeah…I think so."

"Good."

He opened his eyes and stared at her groggily. "How come you're so perky this morning? You drank a hell of a lot more than me."

"I really don't know. Maybe it's all the cybernetics. I guess there might be some benefits to being brought back from the dead after all."

He chuckled softly. "Well, I'm glad you're okay. You did fall asleep on me last night though, just when I was about to use some of my best moves on you. It was very, very disappointing."

"Yeah…I remember. I'm sorry about that, big guy. But I can, ah, assure you, I'm wide awake now."

"You are?" he said, sounding and looking considerably more alert than before.

"Yes." She ran her hand down his chest so there was no way he could fail to understand what she was hinting at it, stopping only when she reached the waistband of the pants he'd been wearing since the previous night.

He raised his brow plates at her. "You know, I'm suddenly feeling a lot more awake myself."

"Imagine that."

"Mmm," he murmured as her hand made its way down his chest again. "And by my count it's almost been three days since the last time we blew off steam together."

"No wonder I've been so tense lately."

"Well, Teagan, I'd be more than willing to help you relax now, if you want. I'm sure I could find some way to get every last bit of tension out of your system."

"My, that's a generous offer, Garrus. I think I'll take you up on it."

Her words seemed to drive away the rest of his drowsiness. Giving her no warning, he rolled her onto her back and began to nuzzle her with some enthusiasm_. _She felt his tongue graze her neck a few times, then he added a couple of gentle nips for good measure.

"You smell different than usual this morning," he mumbled. "Like leather."

"Well, I did spend all night in that evening dress. You smell a little like beer by the way."

"I'm not surprised. Together we probably drank enough to stock a small bar."

She laughed. "God, Garrus, this is some awful dirty talk."

"True. Maybe we should just move things along then."

Without bothering to wait for her to respond, he placed his hands on her, grasping the soft material of her gown. He pulled it slightly open, exposing the upper half of her body and then began to gently stroke her breasts. Once, that part of her anatomy had been completely strange and alien to him, but he knew exactly how to touch her there now. She lay back and simply let him work on her with his skilled hands until he began to use his rough tongue on her as well and she found she could no longer stay so still and placid. She whimpered, grasping the sheets in both her hands, and he chuckled above her.

"You know, Teagan," he said in a teasing tone, "You already seem a bit more relaxed, but I don't think all your tension is gone yet."

"It's not, Garrus."

Taking her words as a cue to move things along, he undid her gown. It fell completely open, revealing that she was wearing nothing underneath to protect her modesty. His brow plates raised in amusement as he stared down at her bare, flushed skin. A moment later, his hands were on her again. He ran them all over her body this time, caressing her, but never stopping in one place for too long. Though his talons were blunted, they left behind light lines on her skin, creating winding pathways that showed exactly where he had touched her. They would soon fade, but for a short time she was marked all over as his.

He paused with his hands resting on the top of her thighs before slowly urging them apart with his hands. She knew she was slick and ready for him, but he made no move to take her. Instead, he simply ran his tongue up the length of her right thigh, keeping his eyes on her face the whole time. Apparently, he liked what he saw, because he moved onto her other one and licked it too.

He seemed to be intent on mercilessly teasing her for as long as she would let him get away with it. Teagan tried her best to keep some control over herself, but her mutinous body was having none of it. She began to whimper again and he chuckled once more, sounding even smugger than before.

In his defence, she supposed that his exemplary performance so far earned him the right to be a little smug. But she wanted him to do more than merely tease her. She tugged on his fringe gently, but firmly, making sure she had his full attention. "Undress," she said, not giving a damn about how unladylike she sounded. "I want you."

"You'll have to be a little more specific, Teagan." He licked her again.

"I want you to make love to me. Please, Garrus."

"Of course, Commander. You know I'd never refuse a request from you."

He immediately began to undo his pants, while she tugged her own gown completely off. As soon as she'd rid herself of it, she raised herself up to her elbows so she could watch as he finished undressing and was rewarded with a view of him that made it clear he was just as ready for her as she was for him.

With all their clothes now lying forgotten on the floor, he braced his body over hers, pushing her back down against the mattress. To her dismay, however, he pulled away from her again almost immediately.

"What…what are you doing?" she asked in a desperate voice.

"We forgot about the lotion. I don't want to hurt you."

"Garrus…it's okay. I'll be fine. Just come here." Maybe she wasn't being totally sensible, the chafing from his plates really could hurt sometimes, but she was finding it supremely difficult to care about that right now.

"It'll only take a moment."

He bounded across the room to the dressing table, grabbed the lotion and then rejoined her on the bed. Instead of passing it to her, he began to apply it onto her skin himself. Using slow, deliberate movements, he spread it over her thighs, stomach and chest. Beautiful little sparks of pleasure seemed to shoot outwards from wherever he touched, threatening to set her whole body on fire, but never quite managing to do it.

She couldn't keep still. "Ugh. Why do I feel like you're just doing this because you like watching me squirm?"

"How dare you accuse me of such a thing?" He rubbed some more lotion into her thigh and her whole leg twitched. "I have your best interests at heart."

"Sure…sure you do…" She let out a groan, incapable of saying any more because of where his hands had now wandered.

Thankfully, mere seconds later he tossed the lotion to one side and positioned himself over her, ready to join their bodies together.

"All done," he said. "You happy now?"

"Yes," she replied, her voice coming out strained. She wrapped her arms around him so he couldn't escape from her again. "Very. Now, stop teasing me, Garrus. Please…"

He pressed his forehead against hers for a moment. "Anything for you, Teagan."

Finally, he began to slide into her in one long stroke. Her hold on him tightened as he moved deeper and deeper into her, and she cried out. Even now, after weeks of being with him, she was still not quite used to the intense pleasure mixed with a little bit of pain she felt whenever he entered her. And he'd made her so desperate for him this morning.

Once he was fully sheathed inside of her, they remained still for a moment, simply taking each other in with obvious looks of pleasure on both their faces. Then he started to move and so did she, and, God, it felt good. So good. But then sex had always been good between them, the first time. The second. The thirtieth. She couldn't understand how anyone could criticise them for being together like this. They weren't in the middle of some dirty tryst. They were a couple who cared deeply for each other and were making love.

Teagan looked up at him, staring into the calm depths of his blue-green eyes. His gaze was so open, so full of desire and need, that it made a rush of love for him surge through her entire body, stronger than anything she would have thought herself capable of feeling just a few months before. All of a sudden, it was like nothing else existed apart from her and Garrus. And all that mattered was what he was doing to her, the way he was burying himself inside of her and giving her so much pleasure.

Loudly, she began to cry out. Garrus' immediate response was to speed up his pace, trying with great success to bring her yet closer to feeling her release. Even so, she did her best to continue moving in time with him. To keep her eyes focused on his. She wanted to hold his gaze right up until the end.

She didn't quite manage it though.

Her eyes slid shut and she gasped out his name when she finally came beneath him. Two strokes later, her name formed on his lips as well and he joined her in bliss.

Although their bodies were both spent, and their desire for each other sated for now, they made no attempt to pull apart. They simply stayed joined together as one flesh, all the physical differences between them forgotten and rendered meaningless. After a moment passed during which they lay still, panting in almost perfect sync with each other, Garrus leant down and pressed his mouth against hers. She kissed him back, gently but persistently, and the two of them remained lost in each other for a while longer.

When the kiss eventually broke because they needed to draw some more air into their lungs, Garrus buried his face in Teagan's hair and, still breathless, whispered, "I love you," into her ear.

Up until that point, she'd always said "I love you" first. It was almost like some part of him had been afraid that he would say it, and she wouldn't repeat it. But that fear finally seemed to have left him. She wondered if his newfound confidence was down to the talk they'd had last night. Whatever the reason though, hearing those three words come unprompted from his mouth made her very happy.

With a smile curling on her lips, she stroked his fringe and said, "I love you too."

….

Half an hour later, they had yet to leave the bed and were lying facing each other in a tangle of human and gangly turian limbs. Neither of them had made any attempt to cover themselves up so their naked bodies were still completely exposed, but there was no awkwardness or embarrassment between them.

Garrus was playing with Teagan's hair, while she smiled at him and ran her fingers along the gaps between his chest plates as if they formed some sort of strange maze for her to explore. She was so relaxed that even thinking about leaving the bed seemed like too much hassle.

"I wish we could stay here all day," she said. "Or, you know, forever."

"Yeah," he replied. "I can think of a lot of worse ways to spend all eternity than in bed with a beautiful woman."

Her smile instantly turned into a full-on grin. She'd never been the type of girl who needed to be complimented all the time, but, God, did she love it when he called her beautiful, even if it was partly in jest. By human standards, she knew she wasn't anything that special. Not ugly, but not gorgeous either. It touched her deeply that he really did seem to think she was beautiful in spite of that and all the differences between their species.

She had come to see him as beautiful too and, right now, with the sunlight from the windows shining on his plates and a soft expression on his face, he looked even better to her than he usually did.

"Spending all eternity with you definitely appeals to me as well," she said. "But we probably should get up at some point."

He sighed. "Do we have to?"

"Well…our shore leave is almost half over now and you said that you were going to visit Solana and your mother today."

"I guess I did say that, and I will see them both, but it's still morning. I think we can afford to waste at least another hour before we bother with boring things like dressing."

"That's fine by me. Do you want to order in some room service or something?"

"Ah…no. I thought we could maybe…spar again." He leant forward, nipping and licking her neck. "But if you're hungry, I…

"No," she said quickly, cutting him off. "Your idea sounds a hell of lot more fun than mine."

She had just begun to kiss him when a loud beeping sound came from somewhere in the room, startling the both of them. They pulled apart from each other with slightly dazed expressions on their faces.

"What the hell is that?" Teagan asked. "I know I didn't set any alarms last night. I was way too out of it."

Garrus glanced over her shoulder. "It's your omni-tool, Teagan. Someone's calling you."

She turned to where it had been sitting on the bedside table for the last four days without making so much as a peep and saw that, unfortunately, he was right. It was flashing manically and emitting the beeping sound.

"I wish that thing would just stop going off." she said. "Maybe if we ignore it, the caller will give up."

But they didn't. The noise continued until the quiet intimacy that had existed between her and Garrus a few seconds before was completely and utterly lost. Teagan knew she had no choice but to answer it.

Suddenly, she felt strangely exposed. Even though she knew that the person on the other end of the line would have no way of seeing her, she still didn't want to be naked, with an equally naked turian beside her, when she took their call. She located the gown she'd thrown off earlier, pulled it on and tied it tightly, before finally picking up the omni-tool.

"It's Joker," she said, frowning as she looked down at the omni-tool's display. "I told him not to contact me unless there was some sort of emergency. This…isn't good, Garrus."

With her stomach sinking, dragging her good mood down with it, she pressed the button to answer the call. Images of awful things happening to her ship and her crew were already making their way through her mind. Maybe Grunt had got himself into to some sort of trouble with one of the rival clans on Tuchanka or Jack had tried to play pirate and steal a cruiser from Vectis' spaceport. Given how spread out her crew members were across the galaxy during this week, the possibilities for disaster were almost endless.

"Joker? It's Shepard," she said, tugging at her gown with nervous hands. "Is something wrong?"

"Ah, hi, Commander." His voice sounded odd. Not panicked exactly, but definitely not quite as laidback as usual. "There's nothing major wrong, but, well, there is something I think you and Garrus should know about. And that's why I'm calling. Yeah. How have the two of you been over the last few days by the way?"

"Fine. Joker. Most of the time anyway," she said simply. Yeah, it was nice of him to ask her that and all, but she wished he would get to the point. "What is it you need to tell me?"

"Okay…" There was a pause on the line. "This is a bit awkward, but a photo of you and Garrus is all over the extranet this morning."

"What?" His words caught her so off-guard that she felt as if she'd taken some sort of blow and been knocked right over. "What…what kind of photo, Joker?"

"Well, it's sort of intimate. One of the crew came across it this morning and then forwarded it to everybody else left on the Normandy. I haven't looked at it too closely at it myself because I don't really want to picture you guys doing…things, but, basically, it's dark and you're out in the street somewhere, uh, kissing. According to the extranet reports, it was taken last night, Commander."

"Oh God." A vague memory of sitting and talking with Garrus on some steps the night before and then abruptly starting to kiss him flashed up in her head. "Oh God," she repeated. "Has Garrus been named as well as me?"

"Yeah….I think people were able to work out who he was since he helped you defeat Saren."

"Shit."

Beside her, Garrus moved slightly, but she didn't look at him yet to see how he was taking all of this. She simply continued to stare down at the omni-tool.

"A lot's been written about it already," Joker said. "You know how fast the extranet moves."

Teagan groaned. "Not all positive I presume."

"Well…no. It hasn't all been _that _bad, but Khalisah al-jilani laid into you like always. I think she said something about how she thought it was strange that you had time to mess around with a turian on Palaven when the galaxy is supposedly at constant threat from the Reapers."

"Great."

"Yeah, well, other reports have been less bitchy. And the crew's all been fine about it. It's not like we didn't all know the two of you were canoodling with each other already. Most people on board have found it pretty hilarious."

"Strangely, that doesn't comfort me much, Joker, but thanks for trying."

"Sure." He paused. "Do you want me to send a copy of the photo through to you?"

"Yeah go ahead. I may as well see it first hand and complete my humiliation."

"Right, Commander. I hope you have a good end to shore leave anyway."

"I'll try. Say hi to EDI for me. I hope the two of you are still getting along?"

"Yeah, except when she's nagging me to feed your hamster or complete a diagnostic. She doesn't seem to think I can remember to do anything by myself. She'll be telling me to clean my room and get my hair cut next."

"I'm sure she's just trying to look out for you. Thanks for letting me know about all of this."

"No problem. See you, soon, Commander."

"Yeah. Shepard out."

She ended the call and, with no real reason to stare at the omni-tool for any longer, finally turned towards Garrus.

They needed to talk about what had happened. It wasn't every day a photo of the two of them in a clinch ended up plastered all the over extranet. However, she couldn't for the life of her think of the right thing to say first. Apparently, neither could he. They stared at each other for a long moment, then, just as Garrus seemed to be on the verge of speaking, the omni-tool beeped again. Joker had sent through the photo, as he'd promised.

After drawing in a long breath, Teagan pressed a single button on the omni-tool and the picture was immediately displayed for both her and Garrus to see.

The first thing that crossed her mind as she stared at it was how unbelievably drunk and undignified the two of them looked. She was almost straddling Garrus in the picture while kissing and touching him with all the enthusiasm of an overly amorous teenager. He seemed to be doing his best to keep up with her.

At the time, she could remember feeling an almost overwhelming urge to be close to him and then immediately deciding to act upon it. Unfortunately, jumping him in the middle of a street hadn't turned out to be the brightest idea she'd ever had. In retrospect, she realised that she hadn't so much thrown caution to the wind as hurled it full-force as far away from her as possible.

"That is just not a flattering shot of us," Garrus said after a moment. His attempt at humour sounded slightly forced, but she was so glad that he was still joking with her like always and didn't sound angry or upset.

She managed to let out a chuckle. "No. No it's not. I…can't believe this, Garrus. I didn't think anyone would recognise me on this planet. And what are the chances of someone with a camera stumbling across us right at that bloody moment? Any other time, at least it wouldn't look like I was trying to eat your face."

"Maybe they were following us. Someone might have tipped them off."

"Oh…"

"What?"

"This might be my fault, Garrus. I've said my name in front of more than one person since we came here, including those two soldiers. I bet they had something to do with it."

"You don't know that." His voice was still calm. "Besides, it makes no difference how someone managed to get that photo."

"This is my fault though. It was me who started to kiss you. I remember."

"Yeah, well I didn't exactly try to fight you off. Quite the opposite. And I heard some noises while we were kissing and didn't catch on to what was happening. There's no point in either of us blaming ourselves. The picture's out there and we're just going to have to deal with it."

"You're right. God, thousands of people are bound to have seen it already. Maybe even millions."

"Yeah…I bet my old buddies at C-Sec are laughing their asses off."

"Do you think there's any chance the council won't end up seeing it?"

"Unfortunately, I doubt it. Hell, we're probably known all across the galaxy as xenophiles by now." He chuckled nervously. "How do you, ah, feel about that?"

She looked at the photo for a moment and then back at him. Yes, what had happened was mortifying, but she the fact that the romantic nature of their relationship was now out there for anyone to see didn't bother her in itself

They going to stay together so people might as well know that they were a couple and get used to it. Assholes like Khalisah al-jilani could shoot their mouths off all they wanted; their opinions didn't matter to her. She was done worrying about what strangers thought about her choice in mate.

As long as Garrus was okay with all of this, then she was going to be too.

"I'm alright. Really, really embarrassed, but alright," she said, wanting to make it clear that she wasn't going to start freaking out on him again. She'd put him through more than enough neurotic crap already. "I've been called a lot worse things than a xenophile since I became the first human spectre." She took his hand and squeezed it. "But how do you feel, Garrus?"

"Well…everyone knows I'm the great Commander Shepard's mate. That's a pretty nice thought." She laughed and he smiled at her, but when he spoke again his tone was more serious. "I doubt my father's going to like it, or Sol for that matter, but I can deal with that."

"I…hadn't thought about your family seeing it."

"It'll be okay. There is one slight problem though." She could tell he was choosing his words very carefully. "Mom still doesn't know about us and, well, if the photos really are all over the extranet, I guess she'll probably come across them sooner rather than later."

"Oh, shit, Garrus. I'm sorry. I didn't…"

"Don't start beating yourself up, Teagan," he said firmly. "I was going to tell her about you anyway and if I head over to the medical centre this morning, then I'm sure I can get things sorted out okay somehow or other. Really."

"I guess you better get over there as soon as you can."

"Yeah. I should probably call Sol too and warn her about what's happened. It's a shame though. I really was looking forward to another hour in bed with you."

"Me too." She shot him a small smile in commiseration and then got to her feet. He followed her.

They started to get ready, both scrambling around the room as if they were late for duty onboard the Normandy. However, they were still interrupted before they could finish dressing. Garrus was wearing pants, but no shirt, and Teagan just had her underwear on when a beeping noise filled their hotel room once more. But it wasn't Teagan's omni-tool that was going off this time, it was Garrus'.

He walked over to where it had been sitting with hers on the bedside table. "It's Solana. Trust her to call me before I could contact her."

There were probably far worse people it could have been, like his father, but Teagan still felt herself tense up. "She has to be calling about the picture," she said, closing some of the gap between them. "What do you think she's going to say?"

"I'm not sure, but it'll be okay. I know how to handle her. I've years of firsthand experience in it. Don't worry, Teagan."

But she couldn't stop herself from feeling concerned. She would hate it if the photo caused a row between Garrus and his only sister. A part of her didn't want to hear their conversation at all and yet she knew she was going to stand beside him and mutely listen to every word of it. Good, bad or very bad.

He gave her a reassuring smile before finally answering the call. "Ah...morning, Sol."

"Morning, Garrus." From just two words spoken over a crackling comm line, Teagan could tell she was not in a good mood. "Guess why I'm calling."

"Well...I suppose it could be to do with a photo of me and Teagan being all over the extranet this morning."

"You're right. And on your first guess too. Congratulations. I know I told you guys to have fun when I said goodbye at the medical centre, but, really, I think you've taken it a bit too far."

Garrus shot Teagan an apologetic look, but, honestly, she thought that she probably deserved that little jibe, even if he didn't. "How did you, ah, find out about it?"

"That's the funny thing. Mom told me. I'm in work and I've just taken a very confused call from her asking if there really are photos of you and your Commander scattered all across the extranet or if she's just seeing things."

Teagan put her head in her hands and for a moment there was silence because Garrus seemed to be unable to speak. "I'm sorry, Sol," he forced out eventually. "What did you say to her?"

"I explained things the best I could. I told her that you'd been Shepard's mate for a while and that you were going to tell her. She seemed to be okay about it, but, honestly, I think you should visit her and talk to her face to face. I'm stuck in work for a couple more hours, but why don't we meet at the centre and clear this mess up as soon as I get out? She's expecting me to come up anyway."

"Okay." He paused. "I'm really, really sorry."

"I believe you. You don't have to keep repeating it over and over. Look, I'm not going to lie and say I'm happy about all of this, but I know you didn't mean for any of it to happen."

"So we're okay?"

"Yeah, big brother, we're okay. But for Spirits' sake, if you're going to do stuff like that out in the street make sure no one's watching you next time. I do not need to see you like that. In fact, no one does."

"Fair enough. I'll see you later, Sol."

"See you, Garrus. Try not to get into any more trouble before we meet up."

She cut the line. Garrus put the omni-tool back on the bedside table and then turned to face Teagan. He looked slightly dazed, but fine apart from that. She hoped he wasn't just putting on a brave face for her.

"Are you still alright?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "That wasn't the easiest conversation I've ever had with Sol, and I didn't want mom to find out about us via the extranet, but I'm okay. In a couple of hours this will all be sorted."

She wanted to apologise to him again, but she knew he wouldn't let her get the words out of her mouth so instead she simply said, "I think I should come with you when you go to the medical centre, Garrus. I don't necessarily mean to talk to you mother or anything, but just to, you know, be there with you."

"You don't have to come."

"I know that. I want to."

"If you're sure…."

"I am. We're in this mess together."

"Okay then." He smiled at her. "Come here, Teagan."

She obeyed and he wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her in the warmth from his body. She laid her head on his shoulder.

"Things just can't seem to go smoothly for us, can they?" he said, mumbling the words into her hair.

"No…maybe you really did curse us last night."

He chuckled. "I hope not, but we'll get through this, just like everything else."

"Yeah, of course we will, Garrus," she said softly.

It was frustrating that their morning had been going so well at first, only to end up like this, but at least she was still in his arms. And she was sure that in the future they would have plenty of mornings, as well as afternoons, evenings and nights together where absolutely nothing would go wrong.

….

**I know there was a little more drama in this chapter because of the whole photo incident, etc, but I promise that this fic isn't going to get angsty again. There's not much left of it now and the last couple of chapters are about bringing the story to a resolution more than anything else. **

**I want to update again in two weeks' time, but I'm beginning to think that there's not much real chance of me being able to do that. Since starting uni a week and a half ago, I've been given three assignments and they all require a lot of reading, etc. I'm also still working as both a freelance journalist and a sales assistant like before so fitting in any fiction writing is going to be pretty hard. **

**If I don't update in two weeks, however, it definitely doesn't mean this story has been abandoned. I'm determined to finish it one way or another!**

**Thanks, as always, for reading :)**


	11. Happy families

**Before I say anything else, I just want to apologise to all of you for how late this update is. Uni is pretty hectic at the moment so finding time to write has become a real struggle. I was up to 3am three nights in a row trying to finish this chapter off! **

**I haven't been able to spend very long editing it because of how much else I have to do so there may be more mistakes in the text than usual. I'll probably edit it again once I have more free time.**

**Thanks for the lovely reviews since the last update. They helped encourage me to keep working on this even after the sun had gone down and I felt more like crawling into bed. Also, thanks for all the new alerts and favourites. They mean a lot to me too :)**

**This chapter picks up a few hours after the last one.**

…**..**

Garrus stood in the courtyard of the medical centre, holding Teagan's hand as he prepared to head inside and face Solana and his mother. He was so glad that she was still with him and that he hadn't been left with only himself for company when he'd climbed out of the taxi a moment before.

Just like any time they'd confronted near-impossible odds on the battlefield, they were in this together.

She squeezed his hand. "You've gone all quiet and serious on me, Garrus. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he replied, "I'm just trying to work out what to say to Solana when we get inside, and what to say to my mother, you know, about us."

"It's funny to think that a few months ago there wasn't really an 'us', but now we're together and all of your family already knows. And so does most of the galaxy." She paused. "Do you think the cab driver recognised us?"

"I'm not sure."

Truth be told, he'd been pretty distracted throughout the whole journey and hadn't really paid much attention to anything except for Teagan whenever she was talking to him or looking his way. He had noticed the driver glancing at them once or twice, but that was it.

"I guess it's possible," he added.

"Hmm. I thought I caught him watching us a few times. Maybe he'll be telling all of his friends that he had two famous xenophiles in his car later."

"That certainly would be something of a talking point."

"Yeah."

They both laughed, but the sound that left their mouths was a little weak and was soon replaced by silence. For a few seconds, the two of them stared at the squat form of the medical centre rather than talking.

It was Teagan who spoke again first. "Are you ready to go and face the music yet, Garrus?" she asked.

"That depends. What the hell does 'face the music' mean?"

"I, ah, actually don't know. It's another one of those weird human phrases that most of us don't even understand. We're confusing like that. I just meant, are you ready to go inside?"

"I guess so. What about you, Teagan?"

"Yeah, sure. If you are, then so am I."

"Let's go then."

They exchanged a final glance with each other, both trying their best to look calm and collected, before starting to walk forward. A moment later, they had reached the medical centre's lobby and were surrounded on all sides by white walls.

In no time, Garrus knew he'd be upstairs, talking with his mother about how Teagan, a human woman, had become the most important person in his life. Chances were that this visit was going to go totally okay. Solana and his father had already, in their own unique way, said that they accepted his relationship with Teagan and his mother tended to be more understanding than the two of them put together. However, it was hard for him not to feel any trepidation about being here under these circumstances. His mother had always been the family member he'd been closest to, and her opinion mattered to him.

If she didn't approve of him being with Teagan it wouldn't be enough to make him consider leaving her. No mortal being would ever be able to convince him to end their relationship. But he did very badly want his mother to like her because she had come to mean so much to him.

Thankfully, Teagan seemed to have a fair idea of what was going on in his head and did what she could to comfort him. She talked to him on and off, and continued to hold his hand in hers as they crossed the lobby and then began to make their way through some of the medical centre's long and depressing corridors.

When they got to his mother's floor, they found Solana sitting in the lounge, staring out of the room's only window. Garrus thought Teagan might let go of his hand when she saw his sister, but she didn't. If anything, her grip tightened. He squeezed back, pleased they would be presenting a united front to her. Just in case her mood had taken a turn for the worse, and she wanted to take them on about the photo, that might be a very good thing.

Solana glanced down at their intertwined hands once they were standing in front of her, but didn't say anything.

"Hey, Solana," Garrus said in the cheeriest voice he could muster given the circumstances.

"Hey, Garrus. Hi, Teagan," she replied. She both sounded and looked exhausted.

Just like when they'd met up with her before, she hadn't made any effort to put on a false front for the rest of the world by hiding her tiredness under cosmetics. She was also dressed plainly again. This time, she had on a dull black and brown outfit that she once would never have allowed herself to wear out in public.

"Have you been waiting for us for long?" he asked.

"About twenty minutes. I got out of work as soon as I could and headed straight over here. Someone who knew you were my brother found out about the photograph and then decided it would be funny to tell everyone else on my floor."

"Oh, crap. I'm sorry, Sol."

She just shrugged. "It's okay. They were bound to find out at some point anyway. The photo is all over the extranet and some people out there are giving you guys a pretty hard time. Have you read any of the stuff that's been written about the two of you yet?"

"No. We didn't want to waste the rest of our morning scouring the extranet to see what strangers were saying about us. I guess we're saving that fun activity for later."

"Well, I have read a bit of it," Solana said, "And I think I should warn you that some of what's been written is not at all pretty. I still can't believe the two of you were dumb enough to get photographed together, but you don't deserve to be talked about like that."

"Thank you, Sol," he said, feeling rather touched. Sure, she'd just called them both dumb, but the rest of what she'd said was pretty sweet. Well, for her anyway. "So…are you coming with me to see mom?"

"No, I think you should handle this on your own. Besides, I popped in to see her before you arrived and said you were coming. She seems to be doing okay, but I think she's getting a little impatient to talk to you."

"Right…I should probably go see her now then."

Rather than making any attempt to do that though, he looked towards Teagan, whose hand was still grasping his, silently seeking her approval. She smiled. "Yeah, I guess you should. I'll stay here, Garrus. Me and Solana can keep each other company until you get back."

"Right," he agreed, knowing that leaving her behind was the only sensible thing to do. He could hardly risk bringing her into his mother's room without being sure she was okay with their relationship.

Truth be told though, he didn't really want to go on without having her by his side. Nor did he want to leave her alone with his sister for the second time in only two days. They still barely knew each other and Sol was not the type to form fast friendships. Plus, the whole photo incident had the potential to make things even more awkward between them.

However, if Teagan was at all annoyed with the situation, then she didn't show it. She reached up to stroke his cheek and whispered, "I hope it goes really well," into his ear, before separating herself from him and sitting down in a chair opposite Solana.

He glanced towards the door. "I guess I'll just go then. I'll, uh, see you both soon."

"Take as long as you want, Garrus," Teagan said. "We'll both be waiting right here for you when you get back."

Her words of encouragement, though quietly spoken, were enough to get him moving. He set off in the direction of his mother's room, walking slowly at first, but as soon as he left the lounge his pace increased. He knew exactly where to go after two his previous visits and he wanted finally end the suspense he'd been feeling ever since he'd stepped out of the taxi. Already, he'd stayed on the edge of the cliff for too long; he needed to just throw himself off it now.

Once he arrived at his mother's room, he simply walked straight in through the door without remembering to knock.

Phadra seemed surprised by his sudden entrance, but smiled at him anyway from where she was sitting in a red armchair at the back of the room. At least from the outside, she appeared to be feeling well-enough in spite of the events of the morning.

She'd looked so much worse when he'd come to visit her on the previous day, only to find her fast asleep in bed, swamped by her thin cotton blanket. He hadn't liked stumbling across her in such a terribly vulnerable state. After all, she'd once towered over him and guarded him from all the galaxy's evils.

Even seeing a minuscule improvement in her today meant a hell of a lot to him.

"Hello, Garrus," she said. "It's good to see you. Come over here and sit with me."

He did, dropping his body down into the chair closest to her. Then he smiled at her. "You're looking well today, mom. I tried to see you yesterday too, but you were asleep."

"Yes I know. One of the nurses' told me. I wouldn't have minded if you'd woken me up, Garrus."

"Oh...well, I thought it was best not to disturb you. You didn't seem very well the day before either."

"I've just had a few headaches lately. Nothing that should worry you too much, and I've been almost pain free so far today."

"That's really good."

"Thank you, Garrus. I have to admit though, I did get a bit of a shock when I came across that photograph of you and your Commander half an hour after I'd woken up. I thought I might have finally lost my mind for a moment."

She looked at him rather sternly, just like she often had when he'd been trying to hide something from her as a small child. He found he couldn't break eye contact with her. That same look had caused him to confess a multitude of sins in the past.

"Why didn't you tell me you had a mate sooner, Garrus?" she said. "I don't understand. This is a good thing."

"I was going to on my first visit, mom, but your headache flared up before I got round to it. I really did want to tell you and I wasn't going to leave Palaven without letting you know somehow. I promise. I'd already told Sol and dad before the photo got out."

As soon as the last few words left his mouth, he wished he could drag them straight back in. That was just not a sensible thing to say.

"You told your father before me?" she said.

"Yes," he replied, speaking quickly, "But not on purpose. Honestly. He, ah, turned up at my hotel yesterday, uninvited, because he wanted to talk to me. Midway through our conversation he noticed some of Teagan's clothes on floor, then about thirty seconds later she came up to the room. I didn't have any choice but to tell him."

"That must have been awkward." She chuckled, and some of the sternness left her face, but he couldn't quite bring himself to laugh with her. Thinking back to his father's visit still left him feeling more horrified than amused.

Perhaps one day he'd look back on that morning and laugh. It was possible. There was no way in hell he was going to do that today though.

"Yeah," he said. "And stressful. And just plain awful really. But I told him and I suppose he could've taken it worse. Trust me though, I would far rather have spoken to you first. I'm really sorry that things worked out like this with the photo and…everything."

"It's alright, Garrus. Next time you have important news like that, just tell me sooner. Keep details about your mission from me by all means if you want, but not personal things like that. I want to know, and preferably not after everyone else. Okay?"

"Yes."

"Good." She smiled at him, the last of the sternness now gone. Unlike his father, she'd never been able to stay cross with him for long. "So…are you going to tell me about her? She must be very important to you if you brought her all the way to Palaven."

"Wait...aren't you going to say something about how she's a different species from me and my commanding officer?"

"No. If those things don't bother you, then they certainly shouldn't bother me. I just want you and Solana to be happy. Some turians, including your father, would probably look down on me for saying that, but I don't care. Life's already short, there's no point in making it miserable as well. And you are happy with this…Teagan, aren't you, Garrus?"

"Definitely."

"So tell me more about this human woman who's making you so happy. Solana talked to me a little about her earlier, but I'd like to hear more from you."

"Uh, well she's..." he said, before coming to an abrupt stop. Three words in and he already didn't have a clue what to say next. That had to be some sort of record even for him. He just didn't know how to sum up someone like Teagan in a few succinct sentences. Finding the right words and then using them in a pretty ways had never been his strong point after all.

"She's...great," he continued. "She's smart…and funny…and she always tries to do what's right even if it makes things ten times harder for her. I guess I probably should find that kind of annoying but I don't. I just…I just think she's pretty great all round. Uh…yeah."

He hoped his mother wouldn't take his inability to form complete sentences as a sign that he didn't really care about Teagan all that much. Because he did. He really did.

He was very relieved when he realised that Phadra was smiling at him. "She sounds like someone very special. You love her, don't you, Garrus?"

"Yeah. Us getting together like this…it was all her idea in the beginning and I suppose we haven't been together for all that long, but I'm…crazy about her. I've never felt this way about anyone before."

Her smile widened. "Do you think I might need to dust off my best ceremonial robes at some point in the future?"

"You mean are we going to get married one day?"

"Yes, Garrus."

"I…I don't know."

Given that he'd never once spoken to Teagan about marriage, he couldn't really provide his mother with a better answer than that. However, the idea of pledging himself to Teagan for the rest of his life certainly did appeal to him. In his head, he'd already done that anyway, and he had no problem with it becoming official at some point.

If he belonged anywhere, then it was with her.

"That wasn't a no," Phadra said.

"I suppose not. I just have no idea what she thinks about that whole…subject."

"Well, there's only one real way to find out: talk to her about it."

"I guess that's true."

"But, Garrus, she obviously cares for you a great deal if she agreed to come all this way with you. I hope it turns out that you want the same thing."

"Thanks, mom. I hope so too."

He smiled at her. Not for the first time in his life, he found himself feeling so grateful that he'd been given her as a mother.

Even the possibility that she might one day have a human daughter in law didn't seem to faze her. She'd probably never date a human herself - hell, he'd done so many things she'd probably never consider doing - but she was still being supportive of him anyway.

"Would you…would you like to meet Teagan?" he asked. "She's sitting with Solana in the lounge right now. I could bring her here to see you. I mean, if you want."

"Well," she replied, "I'm not exactly dressed for company and if we were following proper procedure, then I definitely shouldn't be introduced to her like this, but, to hell with all of that, I'd love to meet her."

"You're sure you're up to it?"

"Yes, you said yourself I seem better today. Go get her."

"Alright then, I will. I'll be right back, mom."

He quickly got to feet and then headed towards the lounge to fetch his mate with a new a spring in his step.

….

Making small talk with Solana Vakarian was not the easiest thing that Teagan had ever had to do, but she'd been trying her best to keep the conversation between them flowing ever since Garrus had left them alone together ten minutes before. This was partly because she wanted to stay on Solana's good side. However, she was also afraid that all she would do was sit limply in her uncomfortable chair and worry about what was going on between Garrus and his mother if she didn't continue to chat with her.

Their conversation had got off to a bad start when Teagan had attempted to apologise to her for the whole photo incident, only to have her words brushed completely to one side. However, once they'd moved on to other, less incendiary subjects, they'd begun to get on considerably better. Solana had even started to open up more about herself. They were currently talking about how she didn't want to be stuck working in an office as an administrative assistant for the rest of her life; a topic that Teagan was actually pretty interested in. She felt like Solana was finally showing her a glimpse of who she really was underneath all that fire and bluster.

Out of genuine curiosity, she was just about to ask her what career she eventually hoped to pursue instead when Garrus suddenly appeared back in front of the two of them.

With her mouth still slightly open, Teagan looked up at him. So did Solana, who immediately began to speak. "Garrus!" she exclaimed, "I thought you'd be gone for longer than that. Did things go okay with mom?"

"Yeah…they did actually. She, ah, sent me back to get Teagan. She wants to meet her."

"Wow. I guess things must have gone better than just okay then. That's good."

"Yeah. She was a little annoyed that I hadn't already told her about having a mate, but that was it really." He turned towards Teagan with a smile on his face. "So are you…okay with meeting her now?"

"Uh…yeah, of course," she said automatically.

Mere seconds ago she'd been in mid-conversation with Solana, but she could hardly say no to him. She'd told him on their first day in Vectis that she would meet his mother if he wanted her to, and she wasn't going to hurt him by backing out now.

She held out her hand and he took it, pulling her to her feet. "We'll be back soon," he said to Solana.

"Sure," she replied. "I'll be right here, waiting to hear how it goes. Good luck, big brother."

"Thanks, Sol." He smiled at her, before abruptly leading Teagan across the lounge and then straight out into the corridor.

He seemed almost impatient to get back to his mother's room with her in tow. His pace sped up as they kept going, but Teagan offered him no resistance, simply letting her body be swept along by him. It was only when they started to approach a door labelled with the name 'Phadra Vakarian' that her nerves caught up with her. She stopped moving, causing Garrus to stop too and turn to face her.

"Is this your mother's room then?" she asked. It was an utterly stupid question, but it found its way out of her mouth anyway.

"Uh, well, yeah," he replied. "That's why her name's on the door. Are you ready to go in?"

"I guess so, but do I look okay? I don't really know how these sorts of things are usually done in turian culture. I mean, am I dressed appropriately for meeting her?"

That was probably a stupid question as well. It wasn't like she could change out of her pants and shirt if he said no. But she was hoping that he just would reassure her by telling her that she looked fine. Then she wouldn't have to worry so much that she would somehow create a bad first impression. She really didn't want to do that. Everything Garrus had said to her about his mother during this trip had made it clear how important she was to him.

"You look nice, Teagan," he said, looking her up and down in an almost amused way. "Trust me though, my mother's not going to care about what you're wearing. She's still in her pyjamas."

"Right…is my hair okay too though? I feel like it's sticking up a bit on one side."

"It is a little. I'll fix it for you if you want?" She nodded, and he began to smooth it down with one of his hands. When he finished a moment later, he gently stroked her cheek. "There, perfect. Not that it really matters that much since turians don't have hair. My mother probably wouldn't notice if it was a complete mess." Teagan pulled a face. "Not that it is. It's shiny, and nice, and you look good. And I really do think she's going to like you."

"Thanks, Garrus."

"No problem. So…are you ready to go in now? She can probably hear our voices through the door."

"Oh…right, I hadn't thought of that."

She allowed Garrus lead her in through the doorway and just like that she was standing in front of his mother for the first time. She'd seen photographs of her earlier in the week when she'd been in the Vakarian family home, but they had been taken years ago and she looked so much older and far more tired now. It was obvious that she hadn't been well for some time. Her bright amber eyes, however, still had life left in them and shone out from in between the cracked plates on her face.

Although she didn't rise from the chair she was sitting in to greet them as they came in, she did offer them both a smile. She then focused her attention solely on Teagan as if she was an object of great interest to her, something strange and exotic. However, her gaze was not unkind.

There was something almost warm about it.

"Mom," Garrus said. "This is Teagan."

She smiled again. "Yes, I can see that. Hello, Teagan."

"Hello, Mrs Vakarian," she replied.

"Call me Phadra. Mrs Vakarian sounds far too formal. And come in properly and sit with me. There's no need for the two of you to hover by the door like that."

Obediently, they both did as she'd suggested. However, Teagan then became unsure of exactly what her next move should be. She ended up staring awkwardly out at her surroundings rather than speaking and was struck almost immediately by just how small and dim the room Phadra now called home was. It had very little in common with the luxurious house she'd once shared with Garrus and Solana. However, Teagan could tell that she had done the best she could with it, despite her illness.

She began to wonder if she should make some sort of comment about how nice the room was as a polite way to break the silence, but was glad when Phadra spoke before she could.

"Thank you for coming to see me, Teagan," she said. "Meetings like this are always a little awkward, and me being stuck in this place doesn't make things any easier. If I was still at home, I could have offered you a proper welcome."

"Don't worry about any of that," Teagan replied quickly. "I'm just glad to finally meet you. Garrus has told me a lot about you."

"He's talked to me about you too. It would probably embarrass you if I repeated any of it."

"Really?" She looked at Garrus. "What exactly have you been saying about me?"

"Ah..." He tugged on his collar. "I don't know. Just the truth."

"Well, it was enough for me to realise how happy you make him," Phadra said. "I should thank you, Teagan. Garrus has had difficult times in the past."

Teagan let out a soft laugh, born more from gratitude towards Phadra for how nice she was being than anything else. "There's no need for that. He makes me just as happy."

"Yes. I can see that too. He's being a dutiful mate to you then?"

"Yes. Definitely. I have no complaints."

"And he's been serving you well as a soldier too?"

"Yes." She glanced in his direction again. "He's always watching my back when we're out on missions and keeping me safe. I honestly don't know what I'd do without him now."

"I'm glad you the two of you found each other then."

"So am I."

Teagan smiled at Garrus for a moment, and he smiled back. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Phadra watching the two of them with a rather amused, but happy expression on her face.

They went on to spend the next half an hour sitting beside each other in Phadra's small room, simply talking with her. And, in marked contrast to what Teagan had come to expect during this trip, nothing remotely disastrous happened during their stay. Among other things, they told Phadra more about how they'd first met and the time they'd spent together over the last few years. Phadra didn't say all that much, and occasionally looked tired, but she still led the conversation in her own quiet way.

The longer they all remained in each other's company, the more Teagan began to see similarities between Garrus and her. They shared a lot of the same facial expressions and often laughed at the same things. Just like Garrus, she also didn't seem to care that Teagan was a human and not a turian. In fact, she made no attempt to bring the interspecies issue up at any point.

By the time their conversation was drawing to a close, Teagan knew that she could come to like Phadra quite a bit - something she wasn't so sure would end up being true of Garrus' father, or even his sister. Even better, the feeling seemed to be mutual.

When she eventually stood up to leave with Garrus, Phadra looked genuinely sorry that they were both going, even though it was obvious that the effort of talking for so long had tired her out.

"So," she said, "Will the two of you be coming back to seem me again soon? I still feel as if there's a lot more we could talk about."

"Well," Garrus said, "I was thinking of dropping in again tomorrow and I guess I could bring Teagan along with me. As long as she's okay with that idea."

She nodded. "Of course I am."

Phadra smiled at them and, despite her weariness, a slow burning warmth seemed to radiate from her eyes. "Excellent," she said. "I'll look forward to seeing you both then."

….

The two of them walked out of the room a few moments later and the door slid shut behind them, leaving them alone in the corridor. The last two times Garrus had said goodbye his mother during this trip, he'd felt downhearted and stressed out, but his mood was soaring far higher on this occasion. She was doing better today and seemed to genuinely like Teagan. If she'd just been pretending to approve of his choice of mate for his benefit, he was sure he would have been able to tell.

He grabbed Teagan's arm, pulling her in for a celebratory hug. She'd now met all of his family and lived to tell the tale. That was pretty damn impressive.

"I think my mom likes you a lot," he said, nuzzling her.

"You do? So…I didn't say anything too stupid?"

"No. You did really, really well."

"Thanks, Garrus. Hearing that makes me very happy."

"Good. I mean it."

He nuzzled her again, pressing his nose against her skin and taking in her scent, before releasing her from his arms. Side by side, they then walked back down the corridor towards the lounge. Garrus presumed Solana would be sitting alone in there still, waiting impatiently for him to come back and report on how things had gone with Phadra. However, by the time they returned, she'd been joined by another figure and all her attention was focused on him.

Both Teagan and Garrus stopped in their tracks as soon as they realised Solana had company.

"Is that your father?" Teagan said, peering at the two figures from across the room.

"Yes," Garrus replied, unable, for the moment, to bring himself to say anything else.

Virgal was dressed in another new suit and looked for all intents and purposes as if he was about to head into some sort of business meeting, but instead he was sitting right in front of them in a hospital lounge.

"Right…uh, what's he doing here?" Teagan asked.

"I'm...not sure."

"Do you think he knows about the photograph?"

"Maybe…but that doesn't explain why he's come to this centre. I don't see how he could have known we were here too. I guess we better just go over and talk to him."

"Yeah, right, okay."

They began to approach Virgal and Solana, but Garrus couldn't help feeling apprehensive about what was going to happen next. Separately, he found both his sister and father hard enough to deal with sometimes. Handling them together could get even more difficult. Hell, he was surprised the universe didn't start to tear apart anytime the force of their two personalities was contained in the same room.

When he and Teagan drew up to them, he felt the need to take in a deep breath before he managed to get the simple words, "Hello, dad," out of his mouth.

Virgal immediately turned round, taking in both him and Teagan, before focusing his eyes on Garrus. "Hello, Garrus," he said evenly.

"Uh…what exactly are you doing here dad? You told me you had to be back on the Citadel today."

"I decided to take another day off so I could come here and see your mother since you said she wasn't doing well."

Garrus was so taken aback he couldn't speak for a moment. "You mean…you listened to a piece of advice I gave you?"

"Yes, I suppose I did. But I won't necessarily be making a habit of it."

"Fair enough. I'm just glad you came."

"Yes, well, in the end I suppose it just seemed like the right thing to do."

The expression on Virgal's face remained rather blank as he spoke, and gave absolutely nothing away. Garrus had no idea what was going on in his head and why, for once in his life, he'd decided to listen to something someone else had said. But he was here, and he was going to see his wife. Maybe that's all that mattered.

"I'm sure mom will be pleased to see you," Garrus said, hoping he wasn't wrong. "She might be a little tired when you go in though. I just spent the last half hour introducing her to Teagan."

"Yes. Solana told me. How did that go?"

"Ah…it went well"

"I suppose that's good, especially considering she found out about your relationship from a photo on the extranet."

"How do you..."

"Solana told me that too. It must have been quite a shock for her when she came across it first thing this morning. It certainly was for me and I already knew the two of you were together."

"Oh…so you've already seen it." Garrus tried his best to put a penitent expression on his face while Teagan shuffled awkwardly beside him. He'd only just started to talk to his father again and, yes, reconnecting with him was going to be damn hard, but he didn't want something as stupid as that photo to estrange them from each other again. "I'm sorry."

"Hmm. I just hope the two of you will be more discreet in future. I've built up a good reputation at C-Sec and incidents like this don't exactly help me to maintain it."

"Trust me dad," Garrus said quickly, "We don't have any intention of getting caught out like that again."

"I'm glad to hear it. You used to be an officer of the law, Garrus. You should know how to conduct yourself better than that."

From that comment, Garrus was half-expecting him to launch into a full on lecture, but he didn't. In fact, when he spoke again it had nothing at all to do with photo and, for one of the first times in his life, Garrus felt as if his father had let him off easy.

"Well," Virgal said, "I think it's time I saw my wife. I have a transport to catch in just a couple of hours." He glanced at Garrus and Solana, then more fleetingly at Teagan. "Though I suppose it has been nice to see you all."

"Uh...thanks," Garrus said. "Bye then, dad. I'll, ah, contact you soon."

"So will I," Solana said.

"Good, I want us all to keep in better touch from now on." He got to his feet. "Goodbye Garrus. Solana," he said, and then, as if it was nothing but a careless afterthought, added, "Goodbye, Shepard."

She looked rather startled. "Uh…bye, Mr Vakarian."

He inclined his head towards her for a second, before abruptly turning his back on all three of them.

Garrus watched as Virgil strode away from them, dignified and tall, and began to head towards his sick wife who was probably still sitting, hunched over, in a chair in her small room. Despite their many issues, and the fact that they'd just had yet another awkward conversation with each other, Garrus didn't begrudge his father his good health. Not even a little bit. However, he did wish the fate of his two parents, who were the same age as each other, hadn't ended up being so utterly different.

His only comfort was that the medical trial might, against all the odds, work and restore his mother's strength and all of her fierce intelligence. It was a small hope but perhaps it was still worth clinging to rather than letting himself sink down into despair over the whole situation.

"What do you think he's going to say to her?" Teagan asked.

Garrus shrugged, his eyes moving from his father's retreating back to Teagan's face. "I honestly don't know."

"I'm not sure either," Solana said. "He called on me at home yesterday and told me about how he'd seen the two of you at your hotel, but he said he was going home that evening. I couldn't believe it when he just suddenly walked right in here and asked one of the nurses where mom's room was. I called him over and we got talking, but he never actually told me exactly why he'd come." She shrugged. "Maybe he just wants to catch up with her."

"Maybe. I guess stranger things have happened," Garrus said. "So, ah, what did you and dad talk about while me and Teagan were gone?"

"This and that. Don't worry our conversation didn't entirely revolve around you, Garrus. Although it's great that you and dad are finally speaking again. What did the two of you talk about with mom? "

"A lot of stuff. She was quite tired by the end, but it really did go well."

"I'm glad. I think it's safe to say our family's gone through enough drama already over the last couple of years." A brief smile flitted across her face before disappearing again, but it seemed genuine enough. "So what are your plans now?"

"I guess we'll go back to the hotel," he said, and Teagan nodded in agreement. "Are you leaving too?"

"No, not quite yet. I'm going to stay for a little longer before heading back home, just to make sure mom and dad don't try to kill each other."

"You're sure you want to stay?" Garrus asked.

"Yeah. I think in some ways I prefer being here to being at home anyway."

"You do?"

"Yeah. Maybe that sounds crazy to you, but it's true." She paused for a couple of seconds. "When mom first moved here, I thought that it might be a big relief for me. But it just…hasn't been. I hate how empty the house is now. It wasn't built for only one person."

She sighed. Her face had become very weary while she'd been speaking. For a moment, Garrus didn't see his kid sister anymore when he looked at her, but a grown woman with far too much weight on her shoulders.

Guilt tugged at him even more forcefully than it usually did when he thought about how difficult Solana's life had become over the last few years. He knew he couldn't make everything okay for her. No one could. But he also knew he needed to do something, anything, to help her out.

"Why don't me and Teagan take you out somewhere tomorrow, Solana?" he said. "It'll be my treat and it might help take your mind off all of this."

She shook her head. "I'm working again tomorrow."

"Well, whenever you get off then."

"Look, Garrus, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I don't want you to offer to take me out just because you feel sorry for me."

"I'm not. I only have a few more days left on Palaven and I want to see more of you while I still have the chance. You are my one and only sister."

"I'd like to spend some more time with you too, Solana," Teagan said.

Solana looked between the two of them for a moment. "Okay, then. I guess it would be nice to get out even for an evening. Thank you, Teagan. Garrus."

"You don't have to thank me," he said. "I'll be looking forward to it."

"I suppose I will too. I hope you both have fun for the rest of today…just not too much."

He chuckled. "Thanks, Sol. We'll see you soon."

"See you."

He and Teagan shot Solana one last smile, which she returned, before they walked out of the lounge. Garrus couldn't help feeling bad about leaving her behind, but she genuinely seemed to want to stay. He'd learnt from an early age, when they were both still playing with toys, that there was no way of changing her mind once she'd made a firm decision. And at least he was going to see her again tomorrow.

Right now though, he had some time alone with Teagan, which he was definitely planning to make the most of.

It didn't take the two of them very long to order a taxi and make their way out of the medical centre's front door. There was, after all, no sense in them hanging around in a place they both disliked for any more time than they needed to.

As soon as they were outside, Garrus guided Teagan over to a shady spot near a group of trees in the hopes that she wouldn't overheat too much while they waited for the taxi's arrival. They stood there side by side, both quiet for the moment. However, the silence that formed between them was a comfortable one, like you can only have when you're with someone you know well, and who knows you well too.

Though he loved his mother and sister, and even his stubborn ass of a father, Garrus just needed a little time to recover from seeing all three of them within the same one hour period, and he guessed that Teagan did too.

After they'd spent a while in complete silence, she turned towards him. "That all went okay, didn't it? I mean, it could've been a complete disaster with Solana and your dad in the same room, but it just…wasn't. I almost can't believe it."

"Same here," he said. "I think even my father might come to accept you as one of the family eventually. He'll be trying to lecture you in no time. You should be afraid, Teagan."

But she didn't seem at all perturbed by what he'd said. Instead, she looked pleased and that made a warm feeling spread all through Garrus' body. This thing between them, which had started so suddenly one day in the main battery, was getting pretty damn serious now. And it really did look like it was going to last in spite of all their differences and all the odds that were stacked so high against them.

"You really think they're all okay with me?" she asked.

"Yeah. None of them are the type to fake anything just to make someone else happy."

"You know, I haven't had any family for more than ten years, it's sort of strange being part of one again."

"Good, strange?"

"Yeah, but it is a big change for me. I spent years on my own, just looking after myself."

"Well, you're definitely not alone now."

"You're right."

A wide smile formed on her face and remained there for quite some time. Strangely, it was only when a rengal landed in one of the nearby trees that Garrus saw it begin to fade.

He cocked his head at her in confusion. "Uh, Teagan…is something wrong?"

"No…no. I'm fine."

"Come on, Teagan. You can't lie to me. I always know. I used to be a detective, remember?"

"It's nothing really, Garrus. I just hate those damn birds."

"You hate rengals?" He was genuinely bemused. It just seemed strange to him that she disliked an animal that was found all over the planet he'd grown up on. He'd been used to seeing them ever since he was a small child. "May I ask why exactly?"

"Okay, I know it sounds insane, but they just seem to…stare at me. And it feels like they're following me everywhere."

"Well, I'm pretty sure they're not following you, Teagan. They're just very common on this planet. And if they really do stare at you, it's probably because they're not used to seeing humans."

"That all makes perfect sense…but I still don't like them. I keep thinking one of them is going to fly at me with its claws out."

"Would it help if I promise to protect you from them as long as we're here?"

She laughed. "Yes. But how exactly are you going to do that? Your sniper rifle's back on the Normandy."

"Well, I am hand to hand combat specialist. I could definitely take one of them out."

"I'd almost pay to see that."

"No matter what happens, Teagan, I'll always be there to look out for you."

"Thank you, big guy. That means a lot to me."

The smile returned to her face and she leant against him, resting her head on his shoulder. A moment later, the rengal suddenly swooped down from the tree and began to peck at the dirt a couple of metres away from where their feet were resting on the ground. However, she made a point of keeping her eyes on him rather than letting them stray towards the bird.

By the time the taxi arrived, she was talking happily with him and seemed to have completely forgotten that the rengal was there.

….

**There's just one more chapter of this story left now. Unfortunately, I have no idea when I'll be able to write it given how busy I am, but rest assured it will definitely post. I suppose this chapter could serve as an end to the whole story, but I feel like there's still a little more left to write. I want Teagan and Garrus to get the ending they deserve, and I do already have the next chapter planned out.**

**It might be a few weeks before I update again, but I will be back!**

**Thanks very much for reading :)**


	12. A token

**So I'm finally back! Sorry for taking so long to get the last chapter up. Initially I hoped to publish it in December, but Uni had other ideas. For about eight weeks the only thing I had time to write was essays and other assignments. It was not particularly fun.**

**I have to admit, I was a little rusty when I started to work on this, but I tried my best so hopefully it's come together okay. There's a little more smut near the end of this chapter, but it's not remotely explicit.**

**Anyway, thanks so much to all of you have stuck with the story to the end despite the looong hiatus. And thanks for the new reviews, favourites and alerts since the last update.**

**...**

Curled up together on the sofa in their hotel room, Garrus and Teagan were in the middle of watching a crappy movie while gorging themselves on junk food. Outside, the sun was going down, its gradual disappearance from sky marking the end of their last full day of shore leave.

Earlier, they'd both said goodbye to Garrus' mother and sister, something which had been difficult for all three Vakarians. Then they'd returned to hotel where they'd eaten and packed, before deciding to spend the rest of their last evening on Palaven simply relaxing with each other in their room. Tomorrow morning, they'd be back on the Normandy, fighting the good fight once more, and Garrus would likely be thousands of light-years away from his family again.

On the whole, at least as far as Garrus was concerned anyway, the last few days on Palaven had gone well. No more disasters like the whole photograph incident had befallen him and Teagan, and they'd settled into something of a comfortable routine together.

Each day they'd spent at least a few more hours in the company of Solana and his mother. Yes, there'd been some awkward moments. There were bound to have been. Even his mother had never expected him to bring his human Commander home. However, they'd both made an effort to get to know Teagan better and Garrus had ended up feeling more connected with them than he had done in a very long time. Perhaps that was hardly surprising considering how physically far away from them he'd been for more than two years, but it was undeniably a good development.

The rest of the time he and Teagan had whiled away alone together, drinking at Rilas' bar, exploring more of Vectis or just hanging out at the hotel. And every day had ended in exactly the same way, with the two of them making love before falling asleep nestled in bed together.

That was what Garrus hoped they were heading towards tonight as well. First though, he had to sit through rest of the ridiculous film they were watching and he also wanted to talk to her about something important. Something very important, which he'd been thinking about with increasing frequency ever since she'd first met his mother.

On screen, the film's hero, Blasto, the first hanar spectre, was currently making his way through some sort of heavily fortified enemy base and Garrus got the sense that the movie might finally be nearing its end.

Mercifully, it turned out he was right. The credits began to roll less than twenty minutes later, just after Blasto had been shown walking off into the sunset with his Asari sidekick, Sugar Wall.

"Well," Teagan said as the actors names began to flash up on screen, "That was just awful. Almost as bad as that Citadel movie we made the mistake of watching a few weeks back. I suppose at least the popcorn I bought was nice."

She scrunched the now almost empty packet she was holding and put it to one side. At the start of the movie it had been full of bright yellow coloured puffs that looked more like some strange kind of fungus than food to Garrus. He'd been pretty damn glad to have a box of his favourite turian sweets to eat instead.

"Yeah, the movie wasn't great," he agreed. "I think the sex scene might actually give me nightmares later."

"That was the real low point."

"The action scenes weren't much better though. The actor playing Blasto had a terrible aim. He wouldn't last more than ten seconds in a real battle. But I, uh, guess I still sort of enjoyed watching it because I was watching it with you."

"I know what you mean. This shore leave has been a bit of a disaster at times, but even the worst stuff has been bearable because we were together. And that's what matters. Hell, we've even managed to have fun in spite of the photo and...everything else."

"Yeah…we have."

His voice was warm. Their conversation had turned down a path that linked up perfectly with what he wanted to talk about. For once, Lady Luck seemed to be smiling down on him rather than hurling more trouble his way.

"Teagan," he said after a moment. "Now the film's over, there's something important I want to discuss with you."

"Oh…do you want to stay on Palaven for a little longer or something? Because that's okay, Garrus. Really." She patted his arm. "As long as you come back to me at some point of course."

"No, it's nothing like that, though thank you."

"Then, what? Tell me, big guy."

"Uh, I will…I just need to get something first."

"What do you mean?" She raised her eyebrow. "Why are you acting so mysterious all of a sudden?"

"You'll, ah, see in a sec."

With a strange mix of nerves and excitement starting to brew in his body, he lifted himself up from the sofa and walked across the room to his suitcase. He dug down to the bottom of it, past his clothes and the rest of his worldly possessions, and pulled out a small velvet box whose content was worth more to him than anything else in there.

"This…this is something for you," he said, returning to her, still clutching the box tightly in one of his hands. "If you want it I mean. I think I'm meant to be on one knee first before I offer it to you. Not sure which one though. Ah...hell. Guess it probably doesn't matter."

He picked the left one. Teagan's eyes widened in what seemed to be complete and utter shock as he sunk down onto it and held the box out to her. "I don't mean right this second, or any time soon necessarily, but I was wondering if you might, you know, one day, possibly want to consider, uh, marrying me." He opened the box, revealing a silver band embedded with three square purple stones. "I bought this, ah, engagement ring thing for you in case you say yes. Damn…I hope I got all that right. I wanted to ask you the human way. I tried my best."

Over the last couple of days, he'd been covertly researching human marriage practices on the extranet whenever he'd had a spare moment to himself. He found information on hundreds of sites, cross-referenced it all and taken notes in an attempt to ensure he didn't do anything too incredibly stupid. This was how he'd read that human proposals usually went, although they probably tended to be carried out with less swearing and awkwardness.

Teagan looked at him, then at the ring, then back at him, mouth open and eyes wide all the while. "Are you…are you really asking me to marry you? Or am I having some kind of strange popcorn induced hallucination?"

"I'm really asking you."

"And this…this is definitely what you want?"

"Yes."

"You're completely sure?"

"Yes," he repeated, even more firmly than before.

"Garrus, this is so...I…I don't know what to say. You'll…you'll never have an easy life if you marry me. There are some things I can never give you…like kids. And we'll both have to fight through other people's crap for the rest of our lives. Are you really okay with all of that?"

"Yes. I like a good fight. I know you do too."

"What about your family, Garrus? How are they going to feel about this?"

"Well, my dad might have some…concerns, but he'll just have to get over them. Solana, I think will be okay with it, and I know mom will be. I sort of spoke to her a little about marrying you a few days ago."

"You…you did?"

"Yeah, not for long, but she seemed to have no problem with the idea."

He tried to put a smile on his face, but it faltered. She still hadn't answered him. She hadn't said no of course, but she hadn't said yes either. Maybe she wasn't going to. Maybe it was just way too soon for her, and he was down on one knee, waving a ring in her face anyway.

He'd known before asking that her saying no was a real possibility, but, damn, he'd hoped from the bottom of his now rapidly sinking heart that she would surprise him and give a very different answer than that.

"Teagan," he said quickly, "Look…there's no pressure here. You can say no and it doesn't have to change anything between us. It's fine. I just wanted to ask. Just in case you maybe wanted this too. Maybe I shouldn't have done. It's too soon, isn't it? I'm sor…"

She touched his arm, silencing his blabbering with that one simple move, and then slid off the sofa to join him on floor. "Yes," she said, before he could blurt out any more. "Yes…I'll marry you, Garrus."

"You…you will?"

"Yes. Definitely."

As the words left her mouth, she launched herself at him, almost knocking him off balance, and captured him in her arms. Too overcome with emotion to speak - or do much of anything for that matter - he simply hugged her back, the woman who had helped to deliver him from the dull monotony of C-Sec and saved his very life on Omega. The woman who had shaped him more than anyone else using only her soft words and gentle five-fingered touch. The woman who'd reminded him of what it meant to be happy.

People across the galaxy knew who she was because of the things she had done. She could easily have found a mate amongst her own species; he was certain of that. It would have meant a simpler life for her in many ways, but instead she'd just agreed to one day become his wife.

He increased his grip on her, pressing her soft human body against his so tightly that he was a little afraid it might be uncomfortable for her. However, she didn't utter a word of complaint, staying clasped in his arms like that for a long time before finally pulling away with glistening eyes.

Unlike when he'd brought her the bouquet of flowers a few days before, he didn't need her to tell him they weren't tears of sadness. He could clearly see that she was happy, though she seemed to be just as overwhelmed as he was.

"So..." she said, her voice wavering, too filled with emotion to stay steady. "Can I have the ring now?"

"Oh…of course."

Hands shaking in a way they thankfully never did on the battlefield, Garrus removed it from the velvet box. He took her soft hand in his and then began to slide it onto her ring finger, remembering from his research which was the right one. It went on easily, despite his unsteady grip. Unfortunately it fell off again almost immediately and began to roll across the floor.

Bounding after it on his hands and knees, he managed to grab it before it disappeared underneath any of the furniture. "Crap. I was afraid I'd get the size wrong. I did my best, but human women's fingers seem to come in so many different sizes."

"It's alright, Garrus," she said gently. "I have an idea."

She made her way to her own suitcase and after rooting around in it for a moment pulled out a plain silver chain he'd seen her wear at most once or twice.

"This chain is nothing special," she said. "Or at least, it wasn't until now. I got it on the Citadel ages ago, just in case I ever needed to spruce myself up for some event or other, but I think your ring would fit on it perfectly." She let the chain dangle down from her fingers. "Do you…do you want to do the honours?"

"Sure."

He went to her and immediately took the chain from her hand. His own hands were still more than a little unsteady, but he managed to thread the ring onto the chain, place it around her neck and seal the clasp shut. This time, the ring remained firmly in place.

"There," he said. "Perfect."

"Yeah…"

"I guess we can get it resized next time we're on the Citadel."

"We could, but I might keep wearing it like this for a while anyway. This way I can keep it on all the time, even when I'm in my armour." She smiled at him. "How on Earth did you manage to buy it without me realising? I had no idea, Garrus."

"I, ah, saw it a couple of days ago when we were out shopping together. The colours of the stones reminded me of your favourite flowers on Mindoir – and the ones I bought you the other day. You seemed to like them, so…yeah…I told you I needed to get a drink and then went back and picked it up too."

When he'd happened to notice the ring in a shop window they were walking past, it had seemed like a sign from somewhere or other. Admittedly, he didn't know much about jewellery, especially not human jewellery, but it had just seemed so perfect for her with its shining purple stones and simple charm.

Before seeing it, he'd just been planning to tentatively broach the subject of marriage with her, not plunge right in and ask her to be his wife. But, well, it had changed his mind and made him realise that maybe just vaguely discussing marriage wasn't enough for him. That buying it and offering it to her might be worth the risk.

Now she was wearing it.

"You…do like the ring too, don't you?" he asked.

"I love it, Garrus. Not quite as much as I love you though."

She stared down at it and it glinted back at her, shining in the overhead lights of the hotel room. She appeared to be almost transfixed by it for a moment, as if it had some sort of magical hold over her.

"We're engaged," she said finally. "I don't think it's sunk it yet. God, my legs feel a bit like jelly."

He laughed, though truth be told he was feeling pretty unsteady on his feet himself. "Maybe we should sit down again?"

"Yeah."

They drifted back to sofa in a giddy haze, collapsing on it together. The ring still seemed to be working its white magic on Teagan and she began to stare at it again, twirling it in between her fingers while Garrus watched her.

After a while, her eyes moved to his face. "So what happens now, Garrus? You told me turians usually draw up marriage contracts and spend ages negotiating all the details. Should I hire a lawyer?"

"That really won't be necessary. I think we can give all of that crap a miss. I haven't done any of this the turian way, why the hell start now? Everything I have is yours. Don't get too excited though, it really doesn't amount to much."

"I'm sure it's more than enough for me. I guess it's just a question of when…and how then."

"I…hadn't really thought about that to be honest. I'm still trying to process the fact that you said yes."

"Well, I can assure you I really did." She planted a small kiss on his cheek. "I suppose it makes the most sense to wait until the war with the reapers is over and they're no longer a threat. It'll give us something to look forward to."

"That's very optimistic of you."

"Huh…so it is."

"It does make sense though. I guess we'll probably have to hold the ceremony on the Citadel, or somewhere else neutral like that. I'm not sure if the Hierarchy will approve a marriage between a human and a turian, and I have no idea if anyone on Earth would agree to it either. And I suppose we should invite some of the Normandy crew. Kasumi will probably turn up regardless of whether we ask her to or not. My, ah, mom will probably want to be there too…if she's well enough. I'm not sure about Sol or my father."

"God, weddings are complicated. And I'm guessing turian and human ceremonies are different, just to confuse things more."

"A little bit. For one thing, turian vows seem to be a lot longer and complex. We'll just have to improvise. I don't really care what exactly we do as long as I get to marry you."

The finer details just didn't matter to him much. There was no point in pretending they did. What mattered to him was getting to stand up in front of other people and promise himself to her for the rest of his life. Quite frankly, he'd happily marry her in one of Omega's back alleys if that was what she wanted to do. The guests, whoever they ended up being, probably wouldn't be too pleased with that set up though.

"I feel the same way," she said. "We don't have to decide any of this now anyway. The war with the Reapers probably won't be a short one. We'll have plenty of time to plan the ceremony, choose a dress for me that doesn't look too ridiculous and pick out our wedding rings in between dodging bullets and killing giant space monsters."

"'Wedding rings?' Those are what humans wear after they get married. Both the man and the woman. And they're usually just plain silver or gold bands, right?"

"Yes, that's right. How do you know so much about them?"

"I've…been doing a lot of research on human marriage practices over the last couple of days. I wanted to get the proposal and everything right. Or at least avoid making a complete ass of myself."

She didn't speak for moment, though her eyes were on him and he could see fresh tears sparkling at him on their dark surface. "Garrus…that's so unbelievably sweet. Underneath all those hard plates, you really are just a big softy, aren't you?"

"Guess so."

"Well…I have to admit since I had no idea you were even thinking of asking me to marry you so I've done no actual research on the turian side of things. What do turians usually do to show they're married?"

"Practices vary depending on the colony, but a common thing is for one of the couple to alter their facial tattoos to match their partner's, depending on whoever's family has the best reputation."

"So…I would get tattoos like yours since I have no big, powerful turian family behind me and I'm… what is it you turians call it? A bareface?"

He smiled at her. "Yeah."

"What…what pattern exactly would I get?"

"Uh…well something a bit like this."

Leaning forward, he began to run one of his talons over her face. His movements were light since he had no desire to actually mar her skin in any way, but he could still almost picture the blue Vakarian pattern on her.

The markings had been passed down through generations of the family and had been worn by hundreds of his ancestors. They'd survived wars and much upheaval. The thought of her bearing them, despite being a human, because she was his wife sent desire and happiness shooting through his body. But he would never ask her to endure the painful and permanent tattooing process just for him. Though he'd gone through it years ago himself with his father by his side, he could still remember how much the needle had stung while the pattern was drawn on his face, and it would probably be even more uncomfortable for a human given how soft and breakable their skin was. That she would even half-jokingly discuss getting the markings was more than enough for him.

He removed his talon from her face. "But I think getting turian-style markings would be a little extreme, even for you, Teagan. You don't have to do that for me."

"Maybe I could get a couple of small lines on my cheek…or somewhere on my arm." She ran one of her hands across her wrist a couple of times as she spoke. "Definitely something anyway."

"If you want."

"Turian married couples also have the same surname like humans, don't they?"

"Yes, but it's based on who comes from the most powerful family again."

"So…I'd be Teagan Vakarian." Her brow furrowed slightly. "It has a nice ring to it…a really, really nice ring… but, Garrus, I, ah, I don't know how I feel about not being a Shepard any more. After what happened to my family, it would feel very strange being called something else. I'm all that's left of them in a way."

"That's fine, Teagan. It's totally up to you."

Sure, her sharing his surname appealed to him just as much as the idea of her wearing Vakarian markings did, but he understood her reasons for not wanting to change to it. If he was in the same position she was, as the last surviving member of his own messed-up family, then he'd probably feel the same way.

"Thank you, Garrus." She paused. "You know, maybe I could become double-barrelled. 'Teagan Shepard-Vakarian' is a bit of a mouthful, but I like it anyway."

"Me too," he said. "A lot."

She smiled. "I guess that settles it then. God…I'm going to be your wife if we make it through this. Your actual _wife._ And you'll be my husband, Garrus. That's just...wow. I never thought when we first met that any of this would happen, but then I never thought I'd marry anyone. And on paper we make absolutely no sense. None. No one would ever put a turian from a rich family on Palaven together with a human who spent her first sixteen years living on a poor farming colony. But we just...work. I guess we're like the opposite of your parents in some ways."

"Yeah," he said, but that one word could never express how much he agreed with her.

He could scour the whole galaxy and he would never find another person who matched him as well as she did. Turians didn't really have a concept of true love, or of soulmates, at least not in the way he knew some human cultures did, but without a doubt she was the one for him.

Together they just made sense, their differences be damned.

She stroked his cheek. "I couldn't ask for a better gunnery officer, friend...or fiancée. You're just...perfect for me."

He chuckled. "How very sentimental of you."

"Shut up, Vakarian."

In an apparent attempt to make sure that he did, she looped her arms around his neck and kissed him. He offered her no resistance, kissing her back as best he could instead. Their embrace became more intense until he could feel the blood pounding, hot and fast, through his veins.

"Garrus…" she said, sounding out his name in a way that made his blood surge even more rapidly. "Garrus…let's take this to bed and celebrate our engagement properly."

"Is that an order?"

"No...it's a request from your new fiancée."

Nevertheless, he treated her words as if they really were an order, obeying them promptly and diligently. He gathered her into his arms from the sofa, strode across the room and laid her down on the centre of the bed. He then immediately joined her there and they began to writhe together, his hard turian body blurring with her softer human one.

Her clothes went first. He pulled off her top, her pants, her underwear until her body was completely bared to him and all she had on was the engagement ring, still dangling from the chain around her neck. That he didn't remove. Instead his next action was to spread lotion over all her skin to protect her from the rough edges of his plates. He worked quickly, but not so quickly that he didn't have some time to appreciate the way she jerked and made soft noises of pleasure in response to his touch.

Then it was his turn to get stripped. She tugged at his shirt, struggling with some of the buckles and clasps even after all these weeks of her undressing him, but he helped her and soon it was abandoned on the floor. His pants she removed with almost no assistance, before her hands made their way up his naked body, stopping only when she reached the bandage that covered the scars on right side of his face.

"Garrus," she said softly, "Can I...can I take this off too?"

"My...bandage?"

"Yeah...I mean, if it's safe to do that."

"I guess it's probably safe enough, but I don't know if it's a good idea."

"Why? Your scars don't bother me, Garrus. Not even a little. Besides, I've got a glimpse of them before, when Dr Chakwas was treating us after we crash landed. Remember?"

"Yeah..."

"I just want to see all of you. You even keep it on when we're in the shower together, but there's no need. Let me take it off, Garrus. Please."

"Alright...if you're sure you want to."

Really he had no rational reason to refuse, or to even hesitate the way he had done. None at all. Seeing the full extent of his scars wasn't going to make her change her mind about being with him. About marrying him. She'd gone through hell this week because of their relationship and stayed with him anyway. And he no longer hated looking at his reflection anywhere near as much as he once had done.

Still though, when she reached for the bandage and then swiftly, but carefully pulled it off, he felt a short, sharp stab of fear pierce right through his gut. He looked down at her, worried he might see a trace of something that he didn't like in her eyes, but there was nothing there except for softness and love.

"God, Garrus," she said. "They're so much better than the last time I saw them." She reached up and began to run her fingers across the scar tissue. Initially, he had to fight a ridiculous urge to pull her hand off his face, but he relaxed after a few seconds and instead leant into her touch. "I guess I won't have to worry about Krogan women trying to steal you away from me soon."

He let out a huff of laughter. "Oh well, I think I can manage without all the extra attention from them. I was planning to settle for you anyway."

"I should hope so."

Laughing herself, she curled one of her hands around the back of his neck and then leant upwards to run a series of kisses along his scars. He no longer felt any desire at all to push her away. Rather, he didn't want the contact to stop.

She placed a final, longer kiss on his mouth. "You look great, Garrus. As devilishly handsome as ever."

"Good," he said. "I feel...very naked right now. I guess I don't really have any secrets from you anymore."

"Well...there is still one last thing."

"Huh?"

"I've never heard what you really sound like. And you've never heard me. You know, without the translators. I'd...like to hear you speak your own language."

"But…we wouldn't be able to understand anything each other is saying."

"I get that, big guy, but it might be, well, kind of…hot. There'd be nothing at all between us anymore, and you know how much I like your voice..."

When she put it like that, he found the idea more than a little appealing himself. "I...guess it could be…interesting. I'll do it, if you want."

She nodded, so he immediately lifted his omni-tool from where it was laying on the bedside table and used it to send out an algorithm designed to temporarily disable both of their translators.

"I think that, uh, worked," he said, positioning himself over her again, but before he even got to the end of the sentence he knew that it had done because a warm, amused smile formed on her face.

She looked up at him for a moment, still grinning, and then said something herself. Her voice sounded...different without the translator, more clear and distinct. The human words that left her mouth were shorter than the ones from his turian dialect. They seemed to almost fall into one another and were made up of many sounds his ears found strange, but, instantly, he liked how she sounded.

"This was a good idea," he told her softly. "But then your ideas usually are good ones. If you hadn't suggested we blow off steam together months ago then we probably wouldn't be engaged. We probably wouldn't even be here right now."

He gently stroked her cheek, and she responded in kind, caressing his recently uncovered scars again. They continued to touch each other, hands roaming everywhere while they exchanged sweet nothings despite 'Teagan' and 'Garrus' being the only words they could both still understand.

Eventually they joined their bodies together so that she was straddling his lap, her bent legs resting on either side of his. Their arms were wrapped around each other, their chests touching, and she was taking the lead, moving up and down on him at an almost lazy pace and occasionally leaning forward to kiss him.

There was no need for any hurry. Garrus wanted to take things slowly, to savour the moment, and clearly so did she. They would never have just become engaged again and they'd bared themselves so completely to one another. Nothing was hidden between them now.

As they drew out pleasure from each other, it occurred to Garrus that he would probably never sleep with a turian woman again. Not if they went on to have a lasting marriage like he hoped. It would just be the two of them together like this for the rest of their lives. That thought didn't worry him though because she alone was all he needed. He loved her so completely that he was certain he would never be able to find the right words to explain to her, or to anyone else for that matter, how much he cared. And the way she was looking at him, her dark eyes fixed on his, told him she felt just as strongly for him.

She kept moving on him, and he did his best to meet her thrusts, until the two of them were teetering right on the edge. They tumbled over together, gripping each other tightly as pleasure finally overwhelmed them.

After, he gently rolled them both to the side. He slid out of her, but then reached down to pull the blankets over their bodies and gathered her straight back into his arms so the sense of closeness they'd felt while making love would stay with them, rather than simply drifting away into the air. She smiled at him drowsily, but happily for a moment, before a short jumble of words left her mouth. Their exact translation was lost on him of course, but her soft tone told him they meant something good – something very good - as did the way she snuggled her body even closer against his.

Soon her eyes began to shut and she went limp in his arms, trusting him to keep holding onto her even as she slowly left the waking world and fell into a deep, contented sleep.

Garrus looked down at her, one hand stroking through her hair, but only lightly so that there was no danger of the action disturbing her. "I don't know what I did to deserve you," he murmured, despite knowing she had no chance of understanding him due to both her lack of a working translator and lack of consciousness. "But I'm damn glad I did it."

His eyes trailed over the soft lines of her face, then down to the small scar on her shoulder caused by his over-exuberance during their first night together. Finally, they came to rest on the engagement ring dangling down from her neck. Damn, he loved how it looked on her, the purple stones shining against the pale skin of her chest.

She'd said earlier she wanted to wear it all the time, even in battle, and she seemed to be serious. He hoped she was. A war was coming and they might not be married for some time, but the ring clearly said she was his, and he was hers. It was a solid link between them for as long as she wore it, something to tie them together and pull her back to his side no matter how far apart they ended up or how chaotic the galaxy around them became.

That was where she belonged now after all.

And he belonged with her. He may not have any ring to wear like she now did, but he would pick up a new visor the next time the Normandy stopped at the Citadel and have her name carved into it. He'd still keep his old Kuwashii one of course. He could never toss it aside. It had been with him for years, through countless battles across the galaxy, through all the dark and dirty skirmishes on Omega. He'd even brought it with him on this shore leave, just in case he needed it for something or other. However, he'd no longer use it once he bought the new one. It represented his often troubled past. The new visor bearing her name would represent the promise of a better future.

With her.

…**.**

**The end! And after only nine short months :)**

**I know this whole chapter was kind of sappy, but I'm not sure if I'll be writing anything else about Teagan and Garrus so I wanted to finish their story off on a positive note. Also, this is how I planned from the start for this fic to end.**

**Now the final scenes are up, I'd love to hear what people thought about the end or any part of the story for that matter. No pressure though! It's great to even know that some people followed this story over the twelve chapters. **

**Thanks so much to all of you who read this story, especially if you took the time to leave a review or put the fic on your alerts or favourites list. I can honestly say I never expected it to get as many favourites, alerts or reviews as it did. Also, a massive thanks to the people who reviewed multiple chapters of this story and/or Home. Your continued support really did mean a hell of a lot to me. **

**I'm not sure if I'll be publishing any more stories on this site or not because of how pressurised my Uni studies are. I do have several ideas, however, so I might try to get one last short thing up before the end of January and the start of the new semester. Even if I'm not back though, I've really enjoyed my time here. Just seeing the hits shoot up every time I updated was great. I know I ran into difficulties at the mid-section of this story, but now I'm at the end it feels like all the hard work was worth it.**

**Thanks one final time to everyone who read this :)**

**- Robyn **

**(a.k.a. WastedHeart). **

**Update 05/02/12: I've now published a short one-shot set a week after this story called 'Reasons To Be Cheerful'.**

**Update: 10/06/12 Post-ME3 epilogue added!**


	13. Epilogue: Beyond the horizon

**So I know this is a bit of a surprise update, but after finally completing Mass Effect 3 I felt like I needed to give myself and the characters in Where You Belong some proper closure, and ended up writing this post-ME3 epilogue. As you can probably already tell, I wasn't much of a fan of ME3's end. I want to be absolutely clear though, I have no problem with anyone who did like it. We're all entitled to our own opinions; variety is the spice of life, etc, etc.**

**Also, despite not enjoying the ending much, this story does pretty much follow on from the destroy option (Teagan simply wouldn't have considered control or synthesis - not that I have anything against people whose Shep's did). I have, however, been deliberately vague about a few things, like whether the geth are alive or not. Even though a part of me wanted to, I chose not to totally break from canon since I've always tried my best to stick to it up until this point. **

**I feel pretty nervous adding to this after such a long break, but once I had the chapter written anyway (as a sort of necessary therapy for myself!) I thought I may as well share it here in case anyone wanted to know more about how I now see Teagan and Garrus' story ending. However, if you prefer your endings to remain more open, then I'd actually advise you not to read this and to still take Chapter 12 as the end of Where You Belong cos if there's one thing this epilogue isn't, it's open ended.**

**Edit 01/07/12: After playing through the extended cut of ME3's end – which, though not perfect, was in my opinion a vast improvement on the original - I've made a few changes to this epilogue. Basically, I've taken into account the fact that the Normandy appears not to have been stranded for long, and that the relays and the Citadel are now repairable instead ending up as piles of smouldering space rubble**

….

Spending time at home with his wife had become Garrus Vakarian's greatest pleasure in life. He'd just endured two days away from her, but now only had to complete a short walk through the outskirts of the Brazillian town they lived in to return to her and their little house.

The sun was encouraging him on his way, sharing some of its warmth with him and bathing the trees and jungle plants that lined the dirt road he was following in a cheery orange glow. For the most part, the vegetation was thick, its upper stories occasionally seeming to move of their own accord as hidden birds and other animals made their way through them. But there was a large patch of ground to Garrus' left that had been scorched bare of life by a Reaper's beam

Like everywhere else on Earth, the town and the area around it still bore scars from the war with the Reapers even though the fighting had been over for more than three years. However, it had been left in much better condition than other places like London where whole streets were lying as dead ruins, still waiting to be renewed. That was part of why he and his wife had chosen to settle here. That and the fact that the town was tropical enough for him and green enough for her. Oh, and pretty damn beautiful all round, with laidback inhabitants, none of whom had yet said anything if they minded having an unusual couple living in such close proximity to them.

Some people might have gone as far as to call it idyllic, though Garrus wasn't actually one of them. In his eyes, nowhere was perfect. Everywhere had some problems. He'd seen far too much during the years he'd spent fighting to protect the innocent as a cop, vigilante and soldier to think otherwise. At the very least though, the town undeniably was a nice place to live and he was very, very glad to be back.

If it was possible, his mood became even cheerier when their house came into sight. He couldn't help smiling as he made his way down the garden that surrounded it, taking in the purple flowers that peppered the grass with colour as he went. Neither he nor his wife were gardeners so it was all a bit of a brightly coloured mess, but it was their mess and he liked it anyway. The house itself was pretty great too. Simple and on the small side, but not without a certain charm. Truth be told though, he probably would have even come to like a shack as long as he got to live in it with her.

He found the house's front door unlocked when he came to it and, half-expecting his wife to run into arms, passed through it into the hall. But she wasn't there. Nor was she anywhere else inside. The living room and dining room were populated only by their usual furnishings. The kitchen, though it showed evidence of recent activity with dishes piled high in the sink and cans of food left on the sideboard, was vacant. And when he called upstairs, he received no answer.

Finally, he located her out back. Commander Teagan Shepard-Vakarian, the galaxy renowned hero, the scourge of evil-doers everywhere, was asleep in a hammock with her mouth hanging open. Her mass of dark hair, which he knew she only kept so long because he liked it, had fallen over her face and was swaying with each new breath she took.

Moving purposely and quickly, he closed the distance between them. Upon reaching her, however, he simply watched her sleep for a moment before beginning to stroke her right cheek in a gentle attempt to wake her, caressing skin there that had once been smooth but was now marred by a scar just like the one he had on the side of his own face.

Her immediate reward for the role she'd played in destroying the Reapers had been that injury and a host of others. His had been to somehow end up crashlanded on a planet alongside the rest of the Normandy crew, with no real idea of whether Teagan had even survived the final battle or not. But he'd soon made it back to Earth on the repaired Normandy, they'd reunited and then, once she'd healed, been married in a ceremony approved by what was left of planet's government and attended by their closest surviving friends. The pain they'd both felt in the aftermath of the final battle with the Reapers seemed very far away to him now. Something old and distant that couldn't touch them anymore.

And even with the scars she was beautiful to him. Always would be.

Hand still resting on her cheek, he leant forward and pressed his mouth against her forehead. It was a human, not a turian gesture, but it had become something of a habit. He knew she liked it and, in this instance, it was enough to finally rouse her from her slumber.

She opened her eyes, and though they remained hazy for a moment, they immediately came to life when they focused in on him.

"Hey, Teagan," he said softly.

"You're home."

"Yeah. I know I was only gone for two days, but it's damn good to be back."

"It's damn good to have you back. God, I wanted to greet you at the door when you came in, not fall asleep and have you come out here and find me drooling in the garden."

"That's alright. You weren't actually drooling anyway."

"Oh good."

"And I know you need your rest right now, what with your delicate condition and all." He removed his hand from her cheek and laid it instead on the sizeable bump she'd gained from eight months of pregnancy. "How are the two of you feeling today?"

"I'm kind of tired; as I'm sure you've already noticed. I didn't get as much sleep as usual during the last couple of nights. She's doing just dandy though."

At the end of the sentence, as if to prove a point, he felt his daughter move underneath his hand. Well, maybe not his daughter in a strictly biological sense. Genetically, her father was a human sperm donor. A brown haired, blue eyed Alliance marine with an excellent service record to be exact, who had been declared MIA years ago and so would never know of the role he'd played in helping the two of them have a child.

His personal history didn't really matter all that much though. In every other sense, Garrus was the child's father. The decision to pursue artificial insemination had been his as much as Teagan's. Originally, they'd been planning to adopt, but once he'd realised just how much she liked idea of carrying their baby, and just how much he liked it too, he'd suggested they start looking into the alternatives.

He'd been the one supporting her during the year she'd spent struggling to conceive, and the day a pregnancy test finally, finally came out positive after so many others had stubbornly refused to, he'd been just as ecstatic as her. It was also him who'd been by her side throughout the months of pregnancy she'd had so far. He'd held her hair back when she'd been sick during the early weeks and rubbed her muscles when they'd ached from carrying the extra weight during the later ones, marvelling all the while at the quiet miracle of their child slowly growing inside her.

When she was finally ready to give birth, he was going to be the one in the delivery room with her. Then after, when they'd left the hospital and returned to their little home with their baby, he'd help to bring her up and be the only person called "dad" by her when she learned how to speak.

Beneath his hand, she shifted again, more forcefully than before.

Smiling lazily, Teagan sat up. "See? She's fine."

"Yeah…"

There was yet another movement. "I think she must have missed you, Garrus," she said. "She was pretty quiet the whole time you were away but now it feels like she's jumping all over the place."

"That…doesn't really make much sense. How would she even know I'm back? She's in there and I'm…out here."

"Sure, but I bet she recognises your voice by now. She's probably happy to hear it again."

"You think so?"

"Well, I know hearing your voice always cheers me up anyway."

"Even after almost three years of marriage?"

"Yes."

Smiling again - she smiled a lot in general nowadays - she placed her left hand over his, causing their silver wedding bands to knock together with a happy sounding clink. He'd had to have his specially made, and it'd been pretty damn expensive, but he'd been determined to respect human marriage traditions. She'd returned the favour and then some by having Vakarian-like markings tattooed all down her less-scarred left arm.

"So," she said, squeezing his hand tightly before letting go. "How was your trip? Was being at the Alliance HQ as exciting as ever?"

"Oh yeah," he replied with as much sarcasm as he could possibly force into the two words.

"At least you weren't incarcerated there for six whole months."

"Fair point."

"And the meetings? Did they go well?"

"I guess so. Mostly, I was just stuck in cold, grey rooms with a bunch of turian and human officials discussing where their joint operations should search for resources next."

"Sounds…" She seemed to struggle to find a polite adjective, before giving up, "Well, really boring."

"Oh it was. One debate lasted for five hours. I tried to give them good advice, but staying awake in itself did become quite the challenge."

"God. Who knew hanging up our guns would just turn as both into advisors."

"I know, Teagan. So much for living off the proceeds from the vids."

She chuckled. "It was such a nice, if short lived dream."

Rarely two days went by without some government minister or military official contacting them for advice. Despite their jokes though, they'd both made a conscious decision not to walk away from their duties completely after the war and, in a way, remaining on Earth had sealed their fate. The planet had become a major galactic-hub because so many ships had been left temporarily stranded in the Sol system while they waited for the relays to be repaired. It also still had the now almost completely restored citadel, and therefore the Council, in its orbit.

For the most part, Garrus was glad that he and Teagan still helped out but, at the same time, he was also very glad they were nowhere near as involved as they used to be. Other, smaller things had become almost as important to them as the fate of the whole galaxy. Maybe that was selfish. He wasn't sure if he cared. Most people got to have normal lives and start families. Why should they be so different?

"At least I can use being pregnant as a reason not to go anywhere for a while," Teagan said.

"I wish I had a similar excuse after that trip."

She patted his arm. "Poor, poor, Garrus. I feel so awful for you. But then you don't have to deal with all the pregnancy related problems like swollen ankles and becoming as big as a hippo."

"You still look good, Teagan."

"You always say that."

"I always mean it." He paused to run his eyes over her form appreciatively. "Anyway," he continued, "Now you've heard about my enthralling time away, what did you get up to while I was gone?"

"I'm not sure where to start."

"That exciting, huh?"

"Yeah. Let's see…" She frowned in mock concentration. "Yesterday I spent a few hours getting caught up on my correspondence. It tends to build up a bit since I have no Kelly or Samantha to remind me to check it."

"Anything interesting?"

"There was a message from Tali just saying hi, and reminding us to send baby photos as soon as we can. Kaidan's invited us to come stay with him and his wife in Vancouver sometime. And I sent a message through to Kasumi, though you know what she's like at responding. Oh, and I received a long vid-call from Sol and your father yesterday evening."

"How are they doing?" he asked, even though he'd spoken to them both at length only four days before and very little was likely to have changed since then.

"They're fine. The conversation was all very friendly and nice. Your father even asked how my pregnancy is going, albeit in his own awkward way." Her already gentle tone softened further as she continued on. "He said that he's very much looking forward to formally being introduced to his granddaughter for the first time."

Somewhere deep inside of him, Garrus felt a twinge of happiness; an emotion he once would have rarely associated with his father. For far too long, all his thoughts of him had been tinged by anger, resentment and other ugly sentiments. Thankfully, it was not so now. "He really said that to you?" he said. "I think I'm almost touched."

"He did. And he asked if he and Sol could come visit us shortly after the birth."

"Well, I guess I'm fine with that, if you are."

"Good, because I may have already said yes to him. I mean, we haven't seen them face to face for a long time and now the relays between Palaven and Earth are running again I just thought it could be, well...nice to meet up. You don't mind, do you?"

He chuckled. "No. That's okay. We'll have to watch him around her though. He'll be trying to teach her ancient turian languages and arguing with her about quantum mechanics in no time if we're not careful."

"He's not quite that bad, Garrus. He even calls me Teagan now instead of just saying Shepard in a pained voice."

"I suppose you have a point. I'll probably call them up myself in a couple of days. Give them another update. Were there any other messages I need to know about? Anyone desperately beseeching us for help?"

"Nah, for once that was it. But I do have something I want to show you upstairs."

He smirked at her. "What sort of thing?"

"Nothing like what you're thinking about right now anyway," she said, smirking back. "I finished painting the nursery this morning and I really feel that you should admire my handiwork since it's the most useful thing I've done all week. Hell, maybe all month."

"Sure. Do you need help getting up?"

Her left leg, which had been extensively rebuilt with plates, pins and who knew what other medical tech, still gave her a lot of trouble and even though she hadn't said anything to him and had been trying to complete her physiotherapy exercises as usual, he could tell her pregnancy had made it worse.

"Well...since you're offering, Garrus," she replied.

Wrapping his arm around her, he gently hoisted her up. Even when she was standing steady on her feet beside him, he kept a hold on her. He just…liked reassuring the feel of her body against his and knowing he still had her six even though they'd left the chaotic battles with all their bright explosions and deafening sounds of gunfire behind them. Admittedly, he'd probably fussed over her a little too much lately. After all, she had just proved she could manage for two days without him at home even though she was heavily pregnant.

As usual though, she indulged him, seeming to find his fussing more amusing than anything else, and let him lead her through the house, then up the stairs and across the hall into the nursery.

Previously its walls had been a boring white, but now, thanks to her painting work, they were coloured pale yellow instead. The shade she'd used toned in perfectly with the fluffy yellow birds on the curtains and the multi-coloured rainbow rug in the centre of the floor, adding to the overall softness and, well, prettiness of the room. They'd both already spent hours in here, trying to get everything just right for their little girl. Even though the room was turning out very different from the traditional, more functional nurseries turian children usually had, he'd enjoyed each minute he'd spent working on it. Hell, he'd even happily gone on many baby-focused shopping trips with Teagan without her having to drag him by the fringe, all of which was probably further confirmation of his status as a bad turian.

"So what do you think?" she said, finally slipping out of his grip so she could wave her arms theatrically at the walls.

"I think you've done a fantastic job. The brushwork is just excellent for one thing," he replied and was rewarded with the rich sound of her laughter. "I'm sure she's going to love all of this."

She laughed again. "I really hope so."

Almost without meaning to, Garrus wandered over to the nursery's main focal point, a large wooden crib with various flowers painted on it, and began to run his hands across its surface. Only soft stuffed toys called teddy bears were lying in it now, but soon his squishy human daughter would be right in there with them, dependent on him and Teagan for love and, well, everything else.

It was amazing how a thought could be so great but so damn terrifying at the same time.

He was already planning to teach her so much as she grew, if she'd let him. Human matters would mostly have to be handled by Teagan since he was still a bumbling idiot when it came to so many of them. But he'd make sure she knew about turian culture, and, once she was old enough, he'd present her with her first rifle, line up some tin cans out in their messy backyard and show her how to use it.

"She'll actually be in here in just a month," Teagan said from behind him, as if she'd somehow looked in through the back of his head and read his thoughts. Maybe she had. Sometimes he could tell exactly what she was thinking from only a cursory glance at her.

She walked over to him, then in quick succession pressed her body against his, looped their arms together and placed her head on his shoulder.

"Little Phadra Anne Vakarian," she murmured, staring down into the cot with him.

A gentle smile formed on Garrus' face upon hearing her say their daughter's name. They'd agreed on it together, deciding to name her after the mothers they'd both lost so the two of them would always be a part of her life in some manner, even though the cold mechanisms of fate had already claimed them and they couldn't be there in the real, physical way they really should have been.

Despite the best efforts of the salarian doctors to save her, Phadra had died only a few months after Garrus and Teagan had visited Palaven together. That meant he'd had four years to get over her death, but he still missed her warmth, her vibrancy, her kindness every single day.

In Turian culture, naming a child after someone who'd passed on was seen as one of the most meaningful things you could do to honour and celebrate their memory. However, it was Teagan, not him, who'd first tentatively suggested the idea, and it was also her who'd insisted that Phadra be the child's first name, and her own mother's simply one of those middle names that humans often liked to give their children. He hoped that wherever his mother now was, sitting at the bar in heaven or hanging out somewhere a bit more stylish up there, she was aware of the gesture her daughter in law had made to her.

Garrus stroked Teagan's arm. "Don't you mean Phadra Anne Shepard-Vakarian?"

"That's pretty long. She'll be five before she can say her full-name. Ten before she can spell it."

"But there's no Shepard without Vakarian."

She looked at him warmly. "That is true."

"Of course it is."

"God, we've so much left to do before we're ready for her, Garrus. We have to finish decorating in here for one thing. And we better get safety locks put on all the cabinets, and make sure we have somewhere to store your rifle collection. If she loves guns anywhere as much as you, she'll be trying to use them as soon as she's able to walk." She paused for about half a second, only to start up again. "And we still have more shopping to do. We need to buy a changing mat and probably a gazillion other crucial things that I can't remember right now."

"We still have a whole month, Teagan. It'll all get done. We've faced far worse odds than this in the past and made it through."

"You're right."

"We could get a start on some of it tonight though, if you want? Or first thing tomorrow?"

"It's getting pretty late so I guess tomorrow will have to do. And I'm feeling hungry after that nap. I better grab something to eat soon."

One of his brow ridges quirked upwards of its own volition.

"Oh shut up, Garrus. You'd think after all these years you would have gotten bored of making fun of my eating habits."

"I…didn't actually say anything."

"You thought it."

Apparently she really could read his mind sometimes. "Uh…okay I did, but …

"I knew it. But I'm getting more food anyway. Judge me all you want, big guy. I have a biotic amp and I'm eating for two."

"More like fifteen judging by the last couple of months."

"Hey! That's just mean." She punched him on the cowl, but then her touch became considerably softer and she laced her fingers with his. "Help me back downstairs?"

"Of course."

As soon as they'd made it to the kitchen, Teagan started to add to the mess she'd made earlier, pulling out a variety of pots, pans and ingredients from the cupboards and dumping them all on top of the stove.

She paused with a couple of human vegetables clutched in her hands. "Do you want me to make something dextro for you while I'm in here, Garrus?"

"Ah, no thanks, Teagan," he said quickly. "I think I'll make something for myself."

There were many, many things his wife was good at, many things she was better than him at, but, damn, she could not cook. He wasn't great at it either, though set things on fire with far less frequency than she did. Feeding their daughter when she was old enough to eat solids was certainly going to be interesting.

"You sure?" she asked. "I don't mind."

"Yes, but thanks for offering," he replied, as firmly as he could without his tone including any hint of rudeness, and then began to make a thick stew with ingredients grabbed from his side of the fridge.

Meanwhile, she prepared something truly awful for herself. He still didn't know all that much about levo food, but the little he did know suggested that it wasn't normal to mix olives, pickles and chocolate sauce together and then heat them on the stove as a side dish to accompany a large piece of meat.

Regardless, she dug into the horrible concoction she'd created as soon as they'd both placed themselves down with their meals on the large leather sofa in their living room. They sat with their bodies touching, his food resting on his lap, hers on her bump. A comfortable silence permeated the air around them, broken only by the sounds of metal cutlery hitting ceramic and their quiet chewing.

The very moment Garrus had finished his stew, one of his hands drifted to rest on Teagan's stomach. She was still eating, having prepared a far bigger meal than him to begin with, but didn't push him off, and when her plate was finally empty, she placed both of her hands snugly on top of his.

He smiled softly at her, and she mirrored the action. "I think she's gone to sleep," she said.

"Seems like it. What do you want to do this evening before we turn in as well?"

"Well, we could always finish watching those wonderful birthing videos Liara sent us," she suggested with her eyes trained on him. She was clearly waiting for his reaction and he didn't disappoint her, beginning to grimace at her words.

Liara, he was sure, had meant well by sending them a large data packet full of books, leaflets and vids about human pregnancy and labour. And most of it had been helpful, especially the interspecies version of What to Expect When You're Expecting. The vids showing human women giving birth, on the other hand, had definitely not been. They'd only made it through two before deciding that they'd seen enough.

One thing was clear from the little that they had watched; human labour was a lot messier than the turian version. Women of his species were lucky really. Not only did they not have to go through such a major ordeal to bring their children into the world, their pregnancies only lasted seven months.

"I think it's safe to say I'd rather watch anything else more than them," he said. "Including recordings of the meetings I took part in earlier."

"How about a movie then?" Her suggestion sounded considerably more serious this time.

"That's a _much_ better idea. There's this one turian epic I've been meaning to watch with you for ages. It's been called the most realistic military film ever made. Some of the battle scenes involve thousands of extras."

"Sounds…wonderful, Garrus. But as much as I usually enjoy watching turians shooting each other in the head, how about something a bit more light-hearted tonight? I have a few Earth classics saved that you might like too."

A long discussion later, they finally selected a human film with the rather strange title of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It was her choice to begin with of course, but he found it even harder to say no to her now than ever before. Not that he'd ever been particularly good at it. And, besides, they had agreed he'd get to choose next time.

Luckily, the film turned out to be watchable. In particular, Garrus liked seeing all the old Earth weapons, including the thing called a whip that the hero kept brandishing at every opportunity. Three-quarters of the way through, however, Teagan suddenly collapsed against his chest and started to snore loudly into his shirt. An impressive action sequence had just begun, but, rather than keep watching, he switched off the screen and gathered his pregnant wife's exhausted form into his arms so he could put her to bed properly.

Carrying her up the stairs to their room took just a tad more effort that it had used to, but he was soon laying her down on the king size mattress. Using gentle movements and the moonlight that was streaming in through the window to guide his hands, he began to undress her, first removing her right shoe and sock.

The other shoe was about to join its partner on the floor when she stirred. Sitting up, she fixed him with a sleepy look, accompanied by a vaguely amused smile. "Garrus...did I miss something? Why are you stripping me?"

"I was putting you to bed," he said. "You fell asleep in the middle of the movie you were so desperate to see."

"Oh...sorry." Her expression turned contrite. "Like I said earlier, I've been tired all day. And, ah, thanks for the help with my shoes, big guy, but I'm pretty sure I can take it from here."

"Right..."

He took his hands off her, but not his eyes, watching as she slowly pulled the rest of her clothes from her body. The moonlight from the window fell over her, caressing each new bit of flesh she revealed; her legs, the swell of her stomach, her breasts.

Once naked, she pulled the sheets back and slipped under them. They pooled at her waist, leaving her upper body exposed to him and her engagement ring – which she still almost always wore on a chain around her neck – glinting in his direction. He'd kept a firm hold on the targeting visor he'd had inscribed with her name to mark their engagement too, but was glad to rarely have cause to use it now.

"Are you coming to bed as well, Garrus?" she asked.

He stared at her in the dim light. "Yeah..."

"You don't have to. It actually seemed like you were enjoying that movie so I don't mind if you finish it off, though it would be nice to have someone to snuggle with after being alone for a couple of nights…"

"I think I'm ready for bed too. We can finish the film tomorrow. Together. Besides, I'd just hate for you not to have someone to 'snuggle' with."

She smiled. "Hurry up and get over here then."

Just like she had done, he stripped naked in the moonlight. And just like he had done, she watched as he pulled every last piece of clothing from his body.

After dumping all his clothes on the floor so they mingled together with hers in a messy union, he crawled into bed beside her, pressing his chest against her back. His arms automatically wrapped around her so that one of his hands was again resting on her stomach.

"I really missed you the last couple of nights," she said softly. "That's probably why I had trouble sleeping."

"I missed you as well. I…actually woke up hugging my pillow this morning. I don't think I should go away again for a while now. It's just no fun if you can't come too."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. If anyone needs to talk to me desperately, they can just get me on vid chat. I want to be here with the two of you."

Turning her head to his, she placed a lingering kiss on his mouth. "I love you, big guy. So damn much."

"I love you too. Both of you."

"Night, Garrus."

"Night, Teagan," he said, nuzzling her neck.

Two or at most three minutes later she was asleep. Given that he wasn't particularly tired, Garrus had the feeling sleep was going to take a lot longer to come for him, but that was okay. He was perfectly content to lie awake with his arm curled around his wife and his unborn daughter.

Not all that long ago, he'd only been able to imagine having a life like this with Teagan. To idly fantasise about building a nest with her and starting to raise a family in it whenever he'd had some downtime. Against all the odds, his dreams had left his head and somehow become solid reality. They were even planning to adopt a couple more children once they'd proven they could handle this first one.

And, damn, he was happy. They both were. Couldn't have been happier.

…

**Yes, yes, I know those last few lines are incredibly sappy - hell, the whole thing is - but I honestly feel this is the sort of end these characters deserve after everything they've been through. I also realise that not much actually happens in this epilogue, but that's sort of the point. All the drama and fighting, etc, is over for them now.**

**Anyho, I hope you enjoyed reading this! Writing it was actually a bit of a struggle because I'd become pretty rusty, but I'm glad I finished it. Comments are welcome and very much appreciated as always.**

**Thanks so much for all the reviews, favourites and alerts since this story originally ended. I never expected it to get anywhere near such a positive response so it means a lot to me :)**

**I'm not sure if I'll be back writing again since I have to finish my dissertation over the next few months, but if I do have some free time at any point then I would still love to write more Mass Effect stuff, even though Teagan and Garrus' story is over now.**

**Thank you for reading!**

**Best wishes to all of you :)**

**Robyn**


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Mass Effect, Romance, Sci-Fi