Fire on the Horizon

Chapter 7: Soldiers Will be Soldiers

The second Shepard's boot hit the shuttle bay her com system went off. "Commander!?! Something's going on with EDI. Everything is going offline and she has gone offline." Shepard turned to Victus. She still had to get him settled in suitable quarters. Luckily Cortez saw the look on her face.

"I've got this Commander." Cortez smiled and nodded towards the Primarch. "Primarch, I'm Steve Cortez. I'll show you to your quarters." He was already leading Victus out before Shepard could say another word.

"What do you mean offline? Where is the source Joker?" She had one hand up to her ear comm trying to hear Joker over the roar of the shuttle bay. Her other hand reached out and softly glided across the turian walking past her. She turned to him and just nodded to her.

"I'll be in the main battery. Go take care of it." Garrus whispered in that low rumble she had grown so accustom to over the years. She simply nodded and mouthed a thank you to him..

She wanted to have some time. Time to talk to him. Time to really have a few minutes alone. The shuttle ride back had been more of a catching up. Nothing about them was really discussed, if there even was a them. She shook that last thought off and headed to the source of EDI's meltdown.

A few minutes later a walking talking robot EDI left the medical bay area and headed back to the cockpit. Shepard smirked and shook her head. She made a few stops to check in with everyone. She could say it was to make sure everyone had what they needed, but the truth was it was to make sure she would have a few minutes alone with Garrus.

The stop before the main battery was to check on the new Primarch. He was in guest quarters that were set up for diplomats. He had everything he needed, including a small kitchen if he wanted to use it. She knocked and heard him yell out an "enter." She had to smirk a bit at what she saw. His military jacket was off and tossed over a chair in a lump. Datapads were thrown all over. Each of them glittering with everything from battle maps to incoming messages and news feeds. He had turian coffee brewing in the pot.

He was flicking over one of the datapads when she noticed smoke trailing from behind him. She knew turians smoked, she even saw Garrus do it once or twice, but it was still odd to see.

Victus looked up from the data pad, tossed it, and threw himself down in a chair. His hand motioned to a chair across from him. "Have a seat Commander."

She smiled and took a seat. "I came to make sure you were settled in and had what you needed. I didn't expect to find this."

He looked embarrassed and went to clean up some of the data pads. She reached out shaking her hand and laughing a bit. "No, no. I just mean I remember being where you are. Being handed the keys to a falling apart kingdom and told to fix it when just the previous day I was a soldier like everyone else. Suddenly, I was the one people were looking to for the answers and I couldn't even make a cup of coffee right."

He smirked a bit and seemed to relax. He sat back and grabbed the ashtray and smoke along with a cup of coffee. He held one out to her, but she shook her head.

"I don't know what to do with all this to be honest Shepard. I'm a soldier, not a diplomat. My planet is being invaded. My people are dying by the hundreds of thousands, and all I can do is look over datapads and hope this horse and pony show with the other representatives goes like we need it to. If we don't have Krogan support we are very literally fucked." He sighed and shook his head.

"I can relate. I have to host that horse and pony show remember. Everytime I put on that dress uniform all I see is the girl that likes jeans, techno music, and the bar." She shook her head not believing she just revealed that to a Primarch. Hell, to her he was a soldier just like her. Just with a bit more responsibility now.

He nodded. "I know what you mean. They want you to be respectable when all you want to do is shoot them or punch them."

They both shared a laugh. It was Victus that broke the laughter. "Garrus seemed pleased to see you."

She looked up at him and nodded. "Yes, he is a hell of a soldier. Good friend too."

Victus nodded and smirked. "He talked about you. Thought about you more. Oh, don't panic. He didn't say your name. When I saw him with you, I knew you were the one he had mentioned. May I ask something personal?"

Shepard nodded.

"Did you miss him?" Victus let the question fall where it would. She knew it was more than just a simple inquiry. She decided to simply be honest.

"Yes, he was the only thing keeping me going to be honest with you." Well, that was a little more honest than she was going for.

"Good. I'd hate to see a good soldier like him let down. Especially during this war. We all need something to look forward to. Just take some advice Shepard. Don't hold back waiting for the right time or moment. Don't let it slip through your fingers. The last thing you want is to be on that battlefield with bullets all around wishing you had said something or done more."

Shepard stood up and nodded. She really didn't know what to say. That is until her mouth took over. "Sounds like experience talking Primarch."

Victus stood up and grabbed a holo frame from his bag. It was of him and a turian female. He handed it to Shepard. "My bondmate, Eliza. I almost let her slip through my fingers. Even though it is painful not being with her, not knowing if she is okay, not knowing...anything really I'd rather have this pain with the hope of seeing her soon than sitting in this room wishing I had said something."

Shepard handed the frame back to him. "Thank you Primarch."

"Adrian. My name is Adrian."

"Adrian. Thank you. You can call me Jane."

They shook hands and she turned to leave. Victus stopped her.

"One more question. A statement really. I'm not sure who Alenko is, but his name and some information Garrus was told about him seemed to unsettle Garrus. I thought you should know."

Shepard nodded curtly. "Thank you Adrian. Let me know if you need anything. I'll notify you with an updated ETA on the diplomatic meeting."

Shepard stood in the lift heading to the main battery. Shit. She was hoping Alenko wouldn't still be a looming issue. They had never talked about. Garrus was standing there on Horizon when it all went sideways. He saw the hurt on her face. Hell, Jack was with them. She didn't even know Kaidan and wanted to throat punch him. Garrus hadn't talked to her about. He just showed up at her quarters that night with pizza and some beer. It was never mentioned. It was exactly what she needed. Spirits she hoped she could fix this mess somehow.

She stopped quickly and took a detour to see Liara. Maybe she needed to talk it out before seeing Garrus.