Oh my god FFZero. What have you done? I started with vague paragraph and it turned into a goddamn fill. I haven't written like this in at least a decade. This is probably no longer what you want but apparently you've enabled me to self-medicate with creative writing, so at the very least, I owe you thanks.
This Shep is mostly Paragon with Renegade tendencies when she knows it's going to be really satisfying. She also plays winner takes all. For her, in this war, her victory could only be absolute. (All crew survived in ME2, genophage cured, geth and quarians reunited, destroyed the Reapers and their forces, allied synthetics survived.) That's how she and I roll. dealwithit.gif
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During their return to the Sol system,
Normandy receives a transmission that Shepard is alive. Her body was located and retrieved by geth who alerted only the participants of the war summit and Hackett. It was agreed between them that, as much as possible, this news would spread no further until Shepard was stabilised and the Normandy had returned to Earth.
By the time the Normandy touches down, Shepard has stabilised and is only marginally conscious for brief periods of time, but is consistently improving. She is being held at an isolated underground facility while she recovers, and this is where the
Normandy crew, including Garrus, is first reunited with her. Deciding not to enter her room and disturb her recovery, they stand, watching her from the other side of the observation window. She is absolutely still, the damage to her body readily apparent despite and because of the bandages and dressings and tubes and monitors, but also wondrously,
undeniably alive.
In an oddly jarring but comforting echo of an old friend, the geth have sent a single unit as a representative, and despite the initial awkwardness the unit is eventually accepted by them and accepts the female (partially influenced by EDI's presence) designation Alba. Much to everyone's amusement (and Gabby's merciless teasing), Kenneth takes a special shine to Alba, because while the intended meaning of the name was "dawn," it is also another name for Scotland.
They've arrived towards the end of visiting hours, and so they're ushered out, but they are back the next day as soon as visiting hours start. This continues for a week, all of them arriving at the start of visiting hours and leaving, and also sometimes, returning and then leaving again, as the hours draw to a close. Garrus can't stand constant vigil as he knows Shepard would not approve of him shirking his duties, but he is always there at the beginning and the end of visiting hours.
On several occasions they are repeatedly joined by the likes of Jack, and even Zaeed. Within the week, all the crew who accompanied Shepard on her Saren and Collector missions have visited. They discover that Miranda was part of the operating team that patched up Shepard upon her retrieval. Amongst them all there is now an easiness and understanding. In some cases, even forgiveness. This war has made them all see each other a little clearer.
On the day Shep regains full consciousness for the first time, all the ground crew, as well as some of the ship and Collector mission crew, and Alba are there. Alba and EDI are the first to notice, as they had been discreetly running programs monitoring Shepard's condition when in her presence. Silently they walk to the observation window, letting the others quickly notice in their own time. It takes less than 10 seconds for everyone to be standing in the window, utterly silent, aware that what they are witnessing is probably nothing short of a miracle.
An outsider watching their sudden gravitation towards the observation window might briefly consider it strange that Vakarian is the last to get there. A keenly observant outsider will notice the way Vakarian suddenly seems to be walking in slow, stilted motion, as if advancing along the ocean floor. A keenly observant, romantically inclined outsider will notice that his mandibles flutter erratically and the last few steps to the observation glass seem painfully difficult; as if Vakarian is torn between a crushing hope and and breath-taking fear - but he makes it. A handful of long seconds pass as everyone watches Shepard's eyes open fully and she takes three deep breaths.
Liara, standing next to Vakarian, breaks the hushed moment, placing a small hand on Garrus' arm. She looks up at him and there is a beat before he turns and slightly lowers his head to look at her, mandibles slack and slightly dropped in confusion. "Go," is all she says. Her voice is tight but soft, and it's all he needs. He walks to the door, goes through, and quietly shuts it behind him. He takes one, two, three small steps and turns to look at the observation window. Sensing his hesitation, the faces on the other side of the glass smile and nod gently, and Garrus understands that they are giving this moment to Shepard and him. He closes the distance to bed and sits in the solitary chair beside it, his back to the window, shielding Shepard's face from view, taking the gifts given to both of them with gratitude that encompasses a galaxy.
The people on the other side of the glass avert their eyes for the most part, smiling and crying with each other, exchanging hugs and laughter, and occasionally sneaking glances at the two figures in the room because, well, no one is really that perfect. Only a couple of minutes have passed when Vega notices Garrus standing at the bed next to Shepard's knees, waving a hand for them to come in. Shepard has turned her head to look out the glass. She is smiling. She is crying. Her face is blotchy, her heart feels strained, she can barely move the rest of her body and she is squeezing Garrus' hand so tightly it hurts her, but none of it matters as she watches the building, fit-to-burst happiness of her crew. Comrades. Friends.
There is a literal scramble for the door, as the ship and ground crew good-naturedly jostle and whoop for joy as they eventually pile into the room. EDI - with Joker on her arm, Javik and Alba enter at a more sedate pace, but there is no hiding their pleasure at the sight of this reunion. They surround the bed, once again obscuring Shepard from view, and the very last Reaper War battle is finally won.
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Okay. Regardless of how
that turned out, I actually feel a little better now. Not very much, but at least a little bit. Thanks again FFZero
P.S. LOLOLOL. I just realised this is the first piece of fanfic I have ever written. LOLing myself to sleep now.
Modifié par Niostang, 29 juin 2012 - 04:35 .
I know what you mean thought, I've wondered that myself, but I guess the armour is a light one, I remember putting on light armour on Garrus back in ME1 (when we actually had a dialogue wheel..). So, they are strong and tall, have an exosceleton and wear bulky but light-material armour.
(god I feel weird about saying it, but yes, I also do find him physically attractive. I'm just open minded I guess
Retour en haut
I just imagined a silent reunion at the hospital, she wakes up, sees him at her side, and smiles. And that's pretty much it. So far.
Maybe ask in the technical support sub-forum?
Shakarian collective unconscious, clearly.
