Fire on the Horizon

Chapter 48: No Hero Left Behind

During that final push, James and Garrus were right behind Jane. Garrus turned his head just in time to see a military truck get hit by a reaper beam and fly into the air. He ran one way and James ran the other. Unfortunately, some of the metal from the truck hit Garrus, knocking him down and to the side. Jane stopped and ran to him. James and Shepard managed to get to Garrus and move him to cover.

"Normandy! Normandy, I need an evac. I need an evac now Joker!"

She turned to Garrus and looked at his leg. It was mangled pretty bad. She took the damaged side of his face in her palm and looked in his eyes. He kept his focus on her and smiled. "Don't think I'll be doing that tango again anytime soon love. Sorry about that."

She smiled a bit and looked toward the sound that had to be the Normandy. "Awww, that hurts my feelings honey. You know how much I love dancing."

The Normandy landed and she and James picked Garrus up, helping him to the Normandy. James didn't notice Jane whisper to Garrus.

"Garrus, get to Adrian. I'm going to head to the beam. Just make sure you guys are in place. I don't want to die here Garrus."

He nodded. They got him on the ship just in time to see another military truck explode. Shepard heard the sound of the reaper and turned to see it. She turned back waving her hand. "Go, Go!"

Garrus thought fast. He knew that he had to do something or people would catch onto the escape plan and try to stop it. There wouldn't be time to explain everything.

"You've got to be kidding me."

She turned and realized what he was doing. They bantered back and forth until Jane finally walked up the plank to her bondmate.

"Garrus, please. Go. I love you and I always will." Her hand touched his and he let it linger for a minute.

"I...I love you too." He felt her hand slip his as she turned to the beacon.

Once they were on the Normandy, Garrus broke free of James and leaned on a stack of crates. He hit his comm link and pushed James away.

"Joker, I'm on the Normandy. Protocol 42. PROTOCOL 42!" He screamed the last part of it through the pain in his leg.

As they flew out of range, he heard Hackett. "This is it. The arms are opening. Ten seconds to contact."

Eleven seconds later, because Garrus was that kind of asshole that counted it down, there was a surge against the Normandy and some cursing from Joker.

Garrus got up and made it to the lift. He stumbled onto the CIC and to the cockpit. Everyone was as silent as death. It was Adrian, who was standing in the cockpit behind Joker, that spoke first.

"We did it. It's done." Garrus looked out at the area that Victus was pointing to and saw the reaper forces falling off one by one, exploding, just caving, and for all intents and purposes dying. It was silent in the cockpit with only a few small jolts every now and then.

Joker turned his head and looked at the two Turians standing behind him. "Okay, let's go get her."

Before anyone could say anything, Hackett came across the coms. "No one is going anywhere. She did her part. It's over. She will be given all the honors..."

He was cut off by Joker. "What?!? Oh my God. You used her and Anderson. You used them as a distraction. They were...."

Adrian finished the statement. "Bait. Fucking human bastard."

That's when Garrus saw it. He was already trying to figure out how to get an evac team down to Jane's last location and get her. Victus was five steps ahead of him. He grabbed the comm link and cleared his throat.

"Joker, open all channels. On the ship and off."

Joker blinked, but did what was asked. He waved his hand to let Victus know the comms were open.

"This is Primarch Adrien Victus. We had two missions today. To end this war and to get Commander Shepard out safely. We have just received word that only one of those things was the intention of some of our allies. Shepard has laid down herself, and possibly her life, for this. She is a bondmate to one of our brothers. We will not leave her on a battlefield as a casualty of war. We can't save the ones we have lost, brothers and sisters. But, we can retrieve her. We can retrieve the woman who gave her all for us."

He cut the comm for a moment to let that sink in and to look around him. The crew was nodding. He looked at Garrus and patted his back before going back to the speech.

"We have been told by Admiral Hackett to stand down. We are turians. We do not stand down. I need Armach company to clear the Normandy a path. As of this moment, the Normandy is now under control of the Turian government under my orders. We have one mission. Get into Earth, find Commander Jane Shepard Vakarian, and get her the fuck out of there."

You could hear cheering across the Normandy, and if you were on the ground you would be deafned by it. Hackett stood with his hands on either side of his console and his head down. He shook his head and turned to his right hand.

"Sir, do you want us to shoot down the Normandy?"

Hackett shook his head. "And do what lieutenant? Shoot down the entire Krogan, Turian, and Qurian fleets that will fire on us? She's their god damn savior and hero. Ever fleet in the galaxy will have our asses. No, let them do this. Just fucking let them get their hero."

Comms were silent for a few minutes. A gruff voice broke through. "Garrus! We're clearing you a path to her. We know where she went down. There's a lot of rubble though."

Garrus laughed. "Wrex. You old bastard. We need a medical team to her."

He winced and looked down at the med team working on his leg right there in the cockpit. The floor was getting covered in blue blood.

"That's my sister down there. We'll get her Garrus."

Garrus stood up and looked out of the cockpit. He was following Joker and Adrian's gaze. Just in their view was an entire fleet of escort. Lead by the Quarians. Raan was in the lead with the Turians not far behind. If anything got in their way, they would be decimated.

It took about half an hour to get back to Earth and get the medical team suited up. Garrus made it to the cockpit, limping, but made it. He blinked when he got there. Standing in the hanger and loading up the shuttle was Dr. Chakwas. That wasn't a surprise. What was a surprise was Kasumi. She was helping them load up.

"Kasumi?" She looked up at Garrus and smiled. She walked up and hugged him.

"I am the only one that can get in and out of there if there is a problem. I know enough about medical to keep her alive until you can clear in there. Jack is on the ground. Her students will put up a barrier around us. We can do this Garrus. One way or another."

He nodded and patted her shoulder. Karen came out of the shuttle.

"We're ready. We have her locked in. We are bringing her home. One way or another."

Garrus smiled at her and got on the shuttle. No one questioned him or tried to stop him. This was his battle more than anyone's. They were going to get Shepard and bring her home.

The escorts managed to get them a clear path in. Kasumi spotted Jane's body before the shuttle could land. Finding a clear landing spot was difficult. Especially at ground zero. Kasumi shook her head and vanished out. A split second later Garrus saw her appear next to Jane. Kasumi checked for a pulse as Garrus held his breath. It seemed like an eternity before Kasumi looked up and gave the all clear as she nodded. That's when all hell broke loose.

Every troop, every unit, everyone began working and clearing a path. Wrex was at the lead of the ground units. It took a few minutes, but the shuttle finally landed and Garrus was on the ground before anyone could blink. His leg was killing him, but he ran anyway. He tore through to the front and got into the ground zero area. He finally made it to Jane and Kasumi. Kneeling down he scooped his bondmate up and began carrying her back to the shuttle.

The vids would later show Garrus carrying Shepard to the shuttle as he was flanked by soldiers saluting.