ME: Valentine's day One Shot

Just a little further. Come on this is just like the simulation. You can do this.

Thudding of 4 pairs of feet resounded in the empty corridors of the abandoned hotel. Crouching very low she held up a fist to signal a stop of the others. As she creeped to the door frame, she got out her sniper rifle. Quickly peeking out of her spot, she saw no visible contacts. She then laid out on the ground, using the scope of the sniper, she zoomed out about an extra 200 meters. Still; no one.

Crouching back behind the door frame she switched back to the assault rifle. Her favorite. As she again made a signal, sending two of her commerades out to secure point, she watched the Turian go; blanacing gracefully on his feet while he glided to his spot. The edge she was so turned on about was the fact his face was nearly perfect and he had a gun that was lethal.

Shepard liked lethal men.

Quickly she pushed this out of her head and ran to the end of the hallway.

Near the mid-section of the hallway gunfire sprayed out of a doorway. Shepard was tripped up and rolled out of the way. She quickly gave a bit of her own gunfire to the room, and she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. She'd felt this before. A dislocated shoulder was nothing.

The Gunnery Chief and Lieutenant entered the room; rapidly getting rid of the problem while Garrus ran to check on Shepard. Using her good arm for some leverage, she was soon standing up again and waited for the only medic in the feild to help her pop the shoulder back into the socket.

At times the lieutenant held certian appeals that Garrus couldn't provide. Like the soft skin that stroked the side of her face, and the way their bodies seemed to be sculpted to fit one another when they danced. His eyes showed what he was thinking, and the body language wasn't hard to read either.

Garrus on the other hand, she had to figure out. He was kept in the dark from her, which she loved. Not everything was straight forward; but more subtle, and a bit more romantic. When she looked in the eyes of the Turian, they seemed to glow a brighter blue than before. The marks on his skin were not only traces of his past; but memories that he every so often shared. Shepard loved the way he snuck around her; dancing with the shadows of the fire that they had built.

As they pressed onward, Shepard made sure to check in every door; sometimes bringing back memories of her childhood. Though her face was neutral, inside she was nearly crying and begging for her past to be different.

But isn't that how she got to where she was now? Defined by her past she longed to be different?

Damn straight.

Clacking bounced around; making it seem like the squad was being followed. Every so often Shepard checked behind to make sure. They made their way to the elevator, where they then held brief council.

"Do we go down or risk not killing everyone and letting them walk away?" Shepard asked as the four stood in a somewhat circular shape. Naturally Williams spoke first.

"I say we get this mission done." She said, keping it short.

"But we don't know how many of them are down there. We don't even know if there's anyone down there. For all we know it could be a suicide going down there." Garrus chimed in.

"We could get two others down here to help, and split up into two teams; one to stay up her and one to go down." Kaidan suggested.

"I like the sound of that; but I don't really want to loose half of my team." Shepard said.

"It's better than the other options. At least we'd get some real information." He argued. Shepard was about to pull rank on him, but held her tounge back. Instead she sighed.

"We'll all go down. Hopefully there won't be anything too dangerous for us to handle." Shepard said. Sarah snorted.

"Yeah like that's possible. We've got the best damn Spectre in the Galaxy, who is also the best person in the whole god-damned Alliance, a Turian who can snipe someone at nearly half a mile away, and two Marine's who have been placed at Death's doorstep, and successfully ding-dong-ditched him. I'd say we're pretty fucking lethal." She said. This eased a bit of the tension as all of them laughed.

"Alright, let's go. We don't want to keep the meat waiting." Shepard said as they stepped into the elevator.

The ride took 15 minutes. In the time, all four of them made sure everything was ready to go, and they even added a few new enhancements to their guns. The elevator eventually slowed, and they all got ready to spread out in, what they hoped, was a room filled with mercs and cover.

The doors open and they found just what the liked.

The fight didn't last long. In fact it was barely a fight at all. The mercs were caught by total surprise; most of them shot in the head and back, bursting into flames seconds later. In one minute all the bodies were turned into ash. They all stood up from the cover, guns slung lazily at their sides, and examined the room.

Four walls. Three overturned tables. Two doors. One way out.

And very little time.

"Kaidan. You and Williams take the door on the left. Garrus and I will go on the right. Radio if you need backup; we'll try to be there as fast as we can. Understood?"

"Yes Ma'am." The two replied, going to the door and sliding through it. Suddenly Shepard got tense. The room spun a bit. She then fainted.

Garrus was quick to catch her, and he was utterly confused.

How could Shepard suddenly faint?

"Alenko, Shepard just fainted. I don't know why. You need to come back right now, it's too dangerous to go off on your own when there's no backup." Garrus said. Little more than static came back to him. But in a minute the two marines reappeared as Garrus set her down gently on the floor.

"The hell?" Kaidan muttered, checking her vitals as he knelt beside her limp body.

"No brain activity..." He silently said. It stung Garrus to hear the words; her body had already begun to shut down.

"Wait! I take that back. I- ..... damn." The lieutenant said, shaking his head.

"What? What is it?" The Turian asked, wanting to know what was going on.

"She's alright but... with what's showing up she should be awake. And moving." He said.

Her body suddenly thrashed on the floor, and all three of them pulled out their guns; pointing at her. She suddenly rose, her back arching much further than anyone could have thought possible. And then she actually stood up!

"Nobody move a muscle." Sarah muttered to them.

Shepard walked like a zombie in some last 21st century films they had seen. Her eyes had no color; rolled into the back of her head, while her head lolled about with her feet as she shuffled. Suddenly she collapsed. Blood trickled from her mouth. Then there was screaming.

No one had ever heard her scream out in pain. But she was definately back to her self. It scared all of them. Right to their core. Shepard began crying as the blood continued draining out of her mouth; tears mixing in with the deep red blood.

Garrus moved to prop her up so she wouldn't choke on her blood. She clung, crying deeply. Kaidan and Sarah looked at Garrus looking for an answer, but he shrugged his shoulders.

"Shepard, are you alright?" He asked.

"Why is there so much pain?" She whispered, "Why does it feel like I'm burning up inside?"

"Shepard I need to know if we should leave or not. I think we should get you to a medic. And from the looks of things down that hall I'd say there's no one left in here." Kaidan said, trying to bring her back.

"Help me up." She said to Garrus, trying her best to stand up. She couldn't move her legs. Instead Garrus had to carry her all the way back to the Normandy.

--------

"Well Shepard, it looks like you've managed to fracture your spine." Chakwas said as she lay on the cold table.

"How? All that I remember is that I was going to head for the door, and then I fainted. When I woke up I felt like I was burning up inside and I was.. I was actually crying." Shepard said, looking ashamed to say it.

"I don't know how that happened. But-"

"She thrashed around and then started to stand up using her head as leverage. I'm pretty sure that's when that happened." Garrus said, stepping out of the shadow. His arms were folded across his chest and he looked disgusted. From what Shepard saw.

"While she was unconscious?" Chakwas asked, looked rather confused now.

"I wouldn't say she was fully unconscious, but it looked like she had been possed or something." Garrus said before Chakwas went back to the data capsule.

"That's odd. Maybe I need to run some further tests?" She said, already taking a needle and pulling some of Shepard's blood.

"There's the start." He murmered. The blood was not red. It was and orange color.

"Well.. this should be interesting." The doctor said, carefully running to get Liara. When she came back the two began to give medicine to Shepard, making her go out of consciousness again, and they started to operate on her. Garrus turned right as he heard her skin being cut open; right over her heart.

For days no one went in or out of the medbay. Garrus sat along the wall, right outside the door. He was waiting. At times he thought he heard the door open.

What's wrong with her? He thought. The time passed even slower now. He thought perhaps she was dead. He refused to make that acception. After all Shepard had made hell seem prety nice after what she had been though.

What Garrus really missed was her presence. The way her skin always seemed to glow, the way her voice lifted him. The eyes were gorgeous. They were almost as blue as the waters in the Citadel's lakes. Which came from the Turian homeworld. Her body was so thin that she looked like a peice of glass that could be shattered at any moment had he looked long enough. The way she moved made him believe she wasn't real at all. Perhaps she wasn't but it was something he could hope for. Maybe then he could let go easier.

The memories from when they first met; tense but friendly. As the months, and now years progressed, it had grown from an Ally, to a friend, to a companion heavily relied on. They needed eachother now. He couldn't imagine going on with his life outside the Normandy without coming back to her.

It was pain. Not from a bullet, or being kicked in ass. But from heartache. At first he didn't know how to explain it. But as the tears slowly formed in his eyes, and crawled from them across his face, it came to him.

They hadn't been companions. They had been in love. It was destiny. Even if he had refused her from the beginning, she would've come back. Maybe after Sovereign had been destroyed; he knew that much. Memories came back to those few weeks the had.

A few weeks should've meant nothing. But the fact that she specifically asked him to join her, changed the aspect of it. Her voice had the right mix of playfulness and seriousness in it, to convince him easily. He could've refused anyone else, no problem. But her eyes glowed at him with a tender smile, glossy, and sparkling. He had never known that eyes could portray such angelic features. But with Shepard; anything was possible. He knew that.

"Hey."

"Is there something you need, commander?"

"Just curious, do you have any plans for your shore leave?"

"Not at all..."

"Would you care to join me? It might make it easier to relax around someone you know."

"I guess I should take the chance before Joker can."

"Then I'll meet you at Flux tomorrow... does 1800 sound good?"

"Sounds great."

He smiled as the tears kept rolling. He now held onto those memories so tight. That was the first time he had actually held her to him. The smell of her hair overwhealmed him.

Her hair smelled like Oranges.

He could almost taste it then. And he could now. Tangy, and sweet; just like her.

I should get some real sleep... He thought as he stood up. Then the door actually opened, and Chakwas took a second before pulling him inside.

"Garrus, look at this!" She said pointing to her screen. "Tell me what you see here." She said again. As he examined the picture his head shook.

"All I see is little orange and red cells." He said.

"That's her blood right when we took it out. Now.." She said tapping a few keys, changing the picture, "What do you see now?"

"Just the orange cells from before. They look... bigger?" He asked her.

"Yes! These cells were in the air of that building, only people with a certian blood type can catch. Now, it was too much for Shepard's body, which cause her reaction. But.. what we found is that when coated in small amounts onto a bullet; it can kill someone but leave virtually no trace. Luckily Shepard's okay... but that's because it hadn't spread through her system fast enough. We made some enhancements to this liquid, so it will spread twenty times quicker." Chakwas said.

"Why is this a good thing? I didn't think it mattered how a target was killed-"

"It kills them quicker and with less effort. We can save more ammo now, and if we can get this to the Citadel..." She said, pausing as she smiled, "We may actually be able to sell these to the Alliance, and across Citadel space for the Spectres."

"Wow." He said leaning back a bit. He glanced at Shepard who was sleeping.

"So... how is she?" He then asked, nervous.

"We managed to fix her spine. But she needs a lot of rest to fully recover. She'll need to stay in here for about another week or so. Liara gave her some medicine that helps her stay asleep so she can heal faster. She'll be awake at about 0700 tomorrow, so we can test her mobility and give her some more medical attention. So if you'd like to see her then, you're more than welcome to." Chakwas said as they moved over to her.

"Alright. I should probably get some rest myself." He said, smiling.

"You do look like you've been awake for a long time." She commented. He then nodded, and went back to his room by the main battery.

Sleeping was easier now that he was assured she was okay. Nothing but the memory of her came to his mind as he slept.

--------

"I'm fine! I swear to god! If you'd just let me move around a bit I could leave!" Shepard argued as Chakwas had her sit up. Garrus leaned on the wall; watching her fight.

"Shepard, you nearly broke your spine. Just be thankful Liara and I fixed it for you! Now I need to take another blood sample, so hold still."Chakwas said. Shepard rolled her eyes and looked over at Garrus. He smirked at her and she only gave him a look telling him to keep his mouth shut.

As her blood was drawn, Garrus noticed it was a brighter red than he remembered. She had been hooked up to a machine, giving her pure oxygen. Maybe that's why it was so red. None of it really mattered; Garrus was too busy taking it all in. She was moving at least. And in about 20 minutes she'd be half dead.

"I'll let you two catch up while Liara and I figure this out." She said, leaving Shepard and Garrus alone. As the door hissed shut, Garrus reached over to put a strand of her hair back behind her ear.

"So.. I hear you were waiting outside while I was being experimented on?" She teased him.

"If it wasn't for me, you'd be dead." He said in a serious tone.

"Yeah. I guess I should thank you for that but... some how I don't think that would be enough to cover it." She said looking up at him.

"Maybe allowing me to spend one night with you would cover it." He said dancing around the edges.

"Perhaps if you'll play nice..." She said, snerking. Garrus then kissed the top of her head as they hugged a bit.

"Sounds like a done deal." He said. She burried her face in him, suddenly needing him near.

"I don't think I can stand to have you that far away ever again." She said, although it was muffled.

"I'll be right here if you need me." He said as they then let go. He stayed to watch Shepard slowly fall back asleep after being dosed with some medicine. The last thing she looked at was him, and she smiled. Even while she was sleeping.

I love you too. He thought; turning around and having a lighter step than ever before. Never again would he love another woman quite like Shepard. Never again would he love anyone else, other than Shepard.

They were held together now; like the limbs of a tree to the trunk. They would grow more, and have many more limbs off of the trunk as time progressed. Love would hold them together through whatever was thrown at them. Even if a chainsaw was brought down on them; they would always have the memories of one another.

This was one true love; meant to stand the test of time.

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