Fire on the Horizon

Chapter 4: Dates and Datapads

"Vakarian, sir!" A voice down the hallway called out to Garrus. He didn't catch it at first. Anytime he heard his last name followed by the word sir, he automatically thought of his father. The second time he heard the voice shout he realized it was to him. He stopped and turned just in time to see a young Turian soldier approach him. He couldn't be more than 18, Garrus thought to himself.

"At ease soldier. Take a breath. Good, now tell me what you need." Garrus smirked a bit as he watched the boy try to take several breaths and let his heart catch up to his breathing.

The soldier held out a small datapad. "For you, sir. From Alliance command. At least, I think it is."

Garrus looked over the datapad and back to the soldier. "Thank you." Garrus started to turn when he realized the soldier was still standing there. Shit. He was a terrible Turian.

"Dismissed." Garrus said as sternly as possible, which always sounded to him like he was trying to mimic his father. The soldier nodded, saluted, and ran off leaving Garrus with the datapad.

The datapad had the insignia of the Alliance on the bottom corner. He hoped it was from Shepard. Wished even that it was from her. He knew with as official as the datapad looked, it wasn't.

It had been five months. He had tried to send a note to her and there was no response. He kept trying for a month. At the two month mark he met up with Liara for drinks on Ilium. She listened as he went through the whole "it was just one night" and "he shouldn't have gotten his hopes up." The sly asari let him go through the whole thing before she finally slid a datapad overtime with a smile. It had letters from Shepherd to him. One a day for each day they had been apart.

When he looked at Liara she smiled. "I'm a very good Shadow Broker. You can't send messages back, but for now, I can get messages out. I may be able to get one thing to her, if you want to risk it."

Instead of words, Garrus had opted to have a gift sent to her. A small vial of sandalwood oil and a copy of Fleet and Flotilla. When Liara kept pressing him for a written letter to give Shepard he finally held up his hand and laughed. "T'soni. She'll get my meaning."

Unfortunately the correspondence stopped at the third month. He had started counting the days until he heard from her again. It bothered him on several levels. He didn't know how she was, what she was doing, or what was going on with her. That was the first problem. The second issue was his own ego. Part of him, that teenage awkward geek in him, still felt like it had been just an extended one night stand. That it was all about blowing off steam. He hoped it wasn't. Wanted to believe it wasn't.

He went to his office at the Turian Hierarchy and told an assistant he had been assigned to not bother him unless the Reapers themselves were at the door. Sitting down at his desk he ran a talon over the screen, watching it flicker, and a series of locked messages pop up. The top message was unlocked and had a name he recognized. Anderson.

His heart sank. He didn't like not hearing from her, but for the next correspondence to be like this, and from Anderson? Not something he wanted to see.

He took a breath and opened the first note.

"Vakarian. I don't have a lot of room to move with this. She's fine. Hackett and I have talked the Alliance into allowing her to be a counselor of sorts. An advisor on the Reapers. If things go sideways Garrus, I'll do what I can to keep her safe and in one piece. I managed to get a few notes from her. They are scanned and in the locked files. I thought it may make this easier on you. I've been where you are. One day ask me about a woman named Kahlee. The passcodes to the five notes are based on dates. Shepard said they correspond to five important dates you two share. She said you would know. WIth that. Anderson out. And Vakerian? Stay alive....for her sake."

Garrus smiled. He knew the dates immediately. Two of them were their birthdates. Easy enough. The third was the date he joined her crew. The fourth was the date they took down Saren. The fifth, that one was very personal. The date they blew of steam.

He began reading the letters. Most of them were quick I miss you letters. Then he got to one that caught his eye.

"I look out the window of this apartment they have me in. All i can think is that the worst thing about this is never getting to see you again. Never having another beer with you. Never waking up to you. Never cleaning guns together. Never... well never. A career in the military and at a time like this, with the Reapers coming, all I can think about is telling you the things that need to be said face to face. Garrus I...."

It cut off. It made no sense. Garrus stood and left his office. He sent out a dispatch to find that courier. The soldier was brought back to him quickly enough.

"This datapad. Where did you get it?" The soldier looked scared but answered.

"It was in a stack of items that left with the evac. It was marked for you, sir."

Garrus was confused. He turned and looked at the assistant. "Earth was attacked Garrus. Two days ago. Didn't you know?"

Garrus felt his heart drop, his blood pressure rise, and at that point his world go numb.