Fire on the Horizon

Chapter 2: Protection of Archangels

Shepard spent the next several weeks brokering a deal between herself, members of the crew, and the Alliance. Her first step was to allow anyone who wanted to remain with Cerberus to leave. They would be dropped off at secure location with the only restriction being that there communication would be monitored prior to the drop off date to ensure Cerberus didn't know of her departure.

Once that was handled, she began having meetings with Hackett and Anderson via vidcom. She arranged for no charges to be filed against any of her crew. She brokered deals for Joker to return as an Alliance pilot. She even somehow managed to get Jack a deal where she would be recruited by the Alliance for a job "suited to her talents."

The final agreement was for her. She would arrive at a secured location, handover the Normandy, and release herself into Andersons custody. The secure location ended up being not as secure as Garrus would have liked, but he understood the reasoning. Omega. Neutral ground. If things looked like they were going to flip on her, she could leave and hide easily if need be. Not that she was a runner, but this was not the best of situations.

Kasumi had agreed to help if that was the case and so had Zaeed. Garrus had decided to stay on board until the last second. He had even surprised her with luxury accomodations on Omega, through a deal with Aria of course, for the night before she would meet with Anderson. If he was giving her up for months, by the Spirits, he was going to have one last night with her before he did.

He grabbed his duffle bag and met Jane at the docking bay entrance to Omega. She was in civilian clothes, but none that he had ever seen her wear before. She was in a blue pair of pants that Joker had told him were called jeans on Earth. She had her hair down and was wearing a top that looked similar to the tank top she wore when she was sparring or working out. A black leather jacket was over the top and matched her leather boots. In a word she looked amazing to him.

Her bag was sat at her feet, her ass leaned against the wall. She looked up and smiled as he walked towards her. He wasn't in his normal clothing either. He had on a pair of black loose pants similar to his workout pants. The shirt he had on reminded her of short leave t-shirts human men wore. There was some kind of writing in Turian splashed across the front of the shirt. She smiled noticing that it showed off the muscle in his arms well and the ridgeline of his neck. God she was going to miss him.

He walked up to her, leaned in, and gently kissed her cheek. She smiled softly and waited for him to lead. WIthout warning, but also without hesitation, he guided her to his side, put an arm around her waist, and began leading her down the corridors of the city. Areas she had never been to or seen when they were there before.

They spent the ride to the accommodations in near silence. Saying only what was required for answers. Garrus lead her to the elevator and then out and down a long haul to what was clearly a sky suite. Taking out a card he popped it into the door slide and a green light blinked as Shepard heard the lock click.

He opened the door and motioned with his arm for her to step in. As she did she took in a breath and then began to laugh. He smirked and stepped in, locking the door behind him, and placing their bags on the floor.

"I take it the accomodations suit you Commander?" He was still smirking as he tossed the keycard onto a table and the prim and proper soldier Vakarian left to make way for the casual Garrus that she loved.

She looked around the room to see four boxes of pizza on the coffee table. Enough beer to put Afterlife out of business, a widescreen television, and a stack of four vids. There was no sofa. Instead, the sofa had been replaced with a bed larger than her first apartment. Everything in the room was meant for both Turian and human comfort. Even the pizzas were for both consumption. Two of each.