5/25/15 Ohai readers! Welp, I know it's not another new chapter of my IC fanfic or my TES fanfic, but this is a bit of a one-shot that I've had sitting at the back of my head for the last two years. I just never could quite get the spark to finish it. So, earlier today, I finally said I was going to finish it. And finish it I did. This is based off of my MULTIPLE playthroughs of Mass Effect 2 and 3. Yes, every single playthrough, I romanced Garrus. Why? Because I felt he had the most emotion out of all of the other LI's in the game. There was just something that...really got to me every time I watched the romance scenes. In this story, Shepard chose to destroy the Reapers, which meant the extinction of the Geth and all other synthetics, including EDI. However, I have a little bit of hope that EDI somehow managed to survive by pulling in the Normandy's shields around her AI core. So...I dunno if I'll ever expand on that, but I likely won't. Anyways, about the playthrough; everyone survived the suicide mission in ME2; everyone(except Thane, Mordin and Legion) survived the end of ME3; Shepard brought piece between the Geth and Quarians; Shepard chose to cure the Genophage; Shepard got the Leviathans' to participate in the war effort; and the Illusive Man committed suicide at the end. Anyways, I know it's not much of a read compared to my more serious fanfics, but hopefully these 8 pages will be enough to give you guys an idea of the aftermath I envision following the events of ME3. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy the read!

9/29/13

Love Transcending

By:

Filip Lesiczka

This story was written by Filip Lesiczka. Please do not reproduce or redistribute without permission.

This story is in no way affiliated with BioWare, EA Games, or the Mass Effect Trilogy. This is a work of fan fiction. This is only my version of a 'what-if' scenario following the ending events of Mass Effect 3. I am only providing a means of entertainment for enthusiastic readers and fans of the Mass Effect Trilogy. All names and characters mentioned in the Mass Effect Trilogy are copyrighted to BioWare and EA. No copyright infringement is intended in this story. I own only the names I may have created specifically for this story. Again, this is only a fan fiction; strictly non-profit. I aim only to provide quality reading material and entertainment for many Mass Effect fans who are avid romantics.

A Miracle of Love

Not one civilian transportation vehicle flew in the air space near the St. Thomas Hospital in the center of London. The only traffic was that of emergency and construction personnel vehicles. Occasionally, M35 Mako's would drive by the hospital on the still ruined main road, but officials had restricted all civilian traffic since reconstruction efforts had begun nearly two years ago.

He stared out the window, watching the construction workers; humans, turians, krogan, asari and salarians alike, scurrying back and forth between construction zones near the hospital. He noted that much of the debris from the war against the Reapers and their bombardment had been cleared away from the city, but the damage was still present. Even the hulking mechanical corpses of the massive Sovereign and Destroyer-class Reapers still remained strewn all across the city of London. But that was of no concern to him at that moment.

Never had he been more nervous. Never had he been more excited before, perhaps more so than their wedding day.

Garrus turned away from the hospital window with an anxious sigh; he'd lost too much sleep since they'd arrived at the hospital a day earlier, been restless for the past twenty-four hours. He started pacing the length of the hospital hallway lobby. Miraculously, the St. Thomas' Hospital had remained completely intact and untouched by damage from the war with the Reapers.

As he passed the reception desk, Liara, who'd been watching him with worry from her seat across from the reception desk, reached out and caught him by his right wrist. "Garrus," she said in her calm and soothing voice as he stopped to look down at her over his right shoulder, "you must relax. You're starting to make me nervous with your pacing."

He let out a sigh of pent up exhaustion and anxiety as he turned and sat down in the seat next to her, "Sorry, it's just that…I don't know how to feel about all this, exactly." He glanced at Liara from the corner of his eye, who was still giving him a look of concern, "You know, the whole fatherhood thing." He clasped his fingers together in front of him and leaned his elbows on his knees, his nervousness made apparent by his restless and fidgeting feet.

She smiled warmly at him, "It's only natural to feel that way. I'm sure that all first time fathers go through this as well." She put a hand on his shoulder, causing him to turn his head towards her. She smiled again.

Garrus nodded, "Yeah, I know. But the truth is…it's not just that that's making me nervous."

"What do you mean?"

He shook his head as he averted his gaze to the floor, "When four of the best doctors of all three Council races tell you that she shouldn't have gotten pregnant in the first place…it makes you wonder a lot of things." He looked toward the door to the decontamination corridor leading to the medical care wing, "How did biology make it work? What will our child look like? Is our child going to be fine? Hell, is our baby even going to live at all?" He closed his eyes and let out a stressful sigh, "It also makes you wonder…does the miracle of our love transcend even the workings of biology?"

He glanced at Liara again, "I mean, even Shepard doubted that biology would cooperate. So, maybe there's something more to love than anyone in this galaxy knows already. Maybe…maybe spirits, and gods, really do exist and had something to do with giving life to our baby."

Liara nodded in agreement, "It's true. Love works in mysterious ways. But there's no reason to think that something will go wrong. I'm sure that you will have a perfectly healthy baby in your arms by the end of this day."

Garrus looked at her for a few more moments before looking straight ahead of him at the reception desk where an asari with violet-tinted skin spoke to the woman behind the reception desk on the other side of the hallway, "I guess you're right." His mind wandered back to the very day after the war against the Reapers ended, and a flood of emotions surged through him once again. "You know, I didn't want to believe that I'd never see her again after she activated the Crucible. I didn't want to believe that I'd be left alone in the galaxy with no one to love. But something deep down told me…that there was still hope. That by some chance, she'd survived it all and that she was somewhere among the rubble that entered Earth's atmosphere.

"I don't know what it was, but there was something at the back of my mind…a voice…her voice, calling for me, calling for help." A single tear formed in the inner corner of his left eye, rolled down his plated cheek and fell to the floor with a silent 'pat.' "I don't think I'd ever been so scared in my life, Liara." His mind returned to that frantic day. He'd vowed that he would never stop until he'd turned the entire huge expanse of the debris field upside down. Never had he been so afraid; never had he been so angry with himself; never had he felt so alone.

Liara furrowed her brow, "Garrus, I-"

He closed his eyes and shook his head, "No, please. Don't feel sorry for me. I'm fine now. It's just that…Joker thought the same thing I did; that she must still be alive and injured…that she needed my help." He opened his eyes. It hadn't taken more than three days before he'd finally upturned a large heavy beam with Wrex and Grunt thirty miles from the debris field in London and found her amongst the rubble from the Crucible, barely alive, barely breathing.

He turned his brilliant blue gaze upon Liara once more, "That was the second time I've seen Ash that upset…and she's not the type to show that much emotion."

Liara looked away, a slight smile on her lips, "I think we all knew that Shepard had to be alive. She's defied death many times before…somehow, I guess we all sensed that maybe, just maybe, she managed to defy death again."

"I dunno about you guys, but I knew that Shepard survived," said a familiar voice from Garrus' right.

He turned his head to see Joker limping slightly towards them with a polished wooden cane in his right hand. "Well well well," Garrus said as he stood up to greet him, "turns out you were right. I still don't know why, how or what told you to drag me out to the countryside and look around in that gulley we found in the woods." The two shook hands.

"Joker! It's good to see you again," Liara said, hugging him softly. "How's your leg?" she asked as she gently pushed away from him.

"It's good for now…I just wish it didn't take so damn long to heal," Joker replied after he and Liara parted. "And I don't know what told me to look in the gulley either. Still trying figure out what pointed me in that direction," he said as he looked back at Garrus. "But, the badass turian is going to be a dad, huh?"

Garrus reached up with his right hand and scratched the back of his head, "Yeah. Never thought this day would come." He turned his gaze up at Joker, "And if it weren't for you, this day probably wouldn't have come in the first place, Joker. I know I've said this a thousand times before…but you have my eternal thanks."

"Hell Garrus, none of us knew this day would come," Joker said as the three of them sat down together in the chairs across from the reception desk. "I mean, a turian-human baby for crying out loud!"

Garrus chuckled as he glanced down at the floor and shrugged, "Hey, it's the miracle of love I guess."

"It's truly a miracle indeed. It's a sign of hope," Liara said, looking towards the medical care wing doors as they opened and a dark-blue asari in medical uniform with a data pad in hand walked out and headed in their direction. "The hope of life, which never ceases to amaze as it continually adapts to anything and everything to survive any situation."

"Yeah," Garrus replied as he looked up towards the asari as she approached.

"Garrus Vakarian?" the asari said as she looked towards him.

He stood up and took a few steps forward, "That's me."

The asari nodded, "She's ready to see you." She then smiled when she saw how nervous he was, "Relax, you'll do fine. Once you see your new bundle of joy, you won't have to worry about anything else."

As the asari turned and Garrus took a step to follow her, a deep voice came from down the opposite side of the hallway, "-out, coming through! Garrus!"

He stopped and turned upon hearing the familiar voice of a longtime friend. "I was wondering when you'd show up, Wrex. You too, Grunt and Vega."

"Shit Garrus," James said panting heavily as the three of them approached him. "When I heard Shepard was in the hospital, I flew all the way over here from Rio this morning," he said as he shook Garrus' hand.

"Same story with us," Grunt stated. "Except this guy slowed us down when we got here," he added, indicating behind him with his thumb at Wrex.

"I'm old you know. What do you want?" Wrex growled at him. "I'm not as springy as I used to be."

Grunt let out a long chuckle, "Yeah, not since you and Eve settled down in Australia. You turned into one hell of a lazy pyjack."

"Maybe you should take a hint from your kids and wrestle the kangaroos in your backyard, maybe even spar with them," James said with a slight smirk as he glanced over his shoulder at Wrex. He snickered somewhat, "Though, wear a cup next time you go up against another one. Don't want to repeat what happened last year."

The battle scarred krogan growled as he stepped closer and shoved James roughly, "Put a sock in it, meathead." He turned his red eyes upon Garrus, "So, we gonna go see the kid or what?"

The asari in medical uniform spoke first as she peered at Wrex from behind Garrus, "I'm sorry sir, but you will have to wait. Only immediate family and relatives are allowed to see the baby for now."

"What?" Wrex growled at the asari. "But we're practically family!"

The asari shook her head, "I'm sorry. The regulations state only immediate family members may see the baby. Friends and such will be invited in later."

"Can't we make an exception for them? Just this once?" Garrus asked, turning towards the asari and giving her a pleading look.

"It's not like we're gonna make the kid cry or anything," James said to the asari as he crossed his arms over his chest. He wore a white skin tight undershirt beneath a navy blue athletic sweatshirt, his dog-tags, grey athletic sweatpants and bright sky blue running sneakers.

"Yeah," Joker added, "we can be quiet." He briefly glanced at Grunt and Wrex, "Well, most of us." Both Wrex and Grunt narrowed their eyes and growled at him.

The asari shook her head again, "Again, only immediate family members are allowed to see the baby. It's not about noise. Rather, it's about space and breathing room for the baby and new mother."

Garrus sighed and turned towards the group with a questioning look.

"Ah forget it," Grunt said with a dismissing wave of his hand. "I'm not exactly the patient type, but I can wait to see the kid."

Wrex nodded in agreement; James and Joker both shrugged as they nodded as well.

"Don't worry about us Garrus," Liara said, smiling at him. "We'll wait as long as it takes. It's important that you spend as much time as you need with Shepard and your child."

Garrus was silent for a few moments while he looked between each of his friends. He wished his friends could go with him to see his newborn child. He didn't want to leave them out of the excitement of seeing his firstborn child. He wanted to say 'to hell with the regulations,' but he was fully aware that hospital regulations were far different from C-Sec regulations. Then, he nodded, "Right. Then…I guess I'll see you guys later."

As he turned to follow the asari nurse, however, movement behind James and Grunt caught his eye. He turned back towards them as he instantly recognized the blonde haired semi-elderly woman dressed in Alliance uniform that approached them. The woman's blonde hair was pulled back into a tight bundle. The three large gold stripes on the shoulder pads of her uniform only reassured him who he was looking at.

He stood straight, clicked his feet together and raised his right hand to his crest to salute. "Admiral!" he said with a surprised note in his voice. "I didn't know you were on leave." He lowered his arm down to his side again.

Both Grunt and James blinked and looked at one another before they took notice of the woman approaching them. James eyes widened and he instantly stood straight, his right hand shooting up to his forehead to salute as well.

"Come now, Vakarian. You believe I would voluntarily miss the opportunity to see my first newborn grandchild?" the woman asked with a slight smile as she stopped near James and Grunt, placing her right hand on her hip. She glanced to her left at James and spoke in an authoritative, yet calm and wise voice, "At ease, Vega. We're all here as friends today. No need for the formalities."

James nodded in response as he lowered his arm to his side, "Yes ma'am."

The woman shook her head while she smirked at him. She glanced at Liara, "By the way, Dr. T'Soni, I want to have a word with you before I leave for Vancouver tomorrow morning. You as well, Wrex."

Liara smiled and nodded, "Of course, Hannah. I'm always available to speak with you at any time."

"Tomorrow morning?" Wrex asked as he reached up and scratched his head just below his head plate. "Yeah, I guess I can talk with you then."

"Good," Hannah said before she looked back at Garrus with her vivid green eyes. "Well then. Shall we go welcome the newest member of our family?"

ͼͽ

He fiddled his fingers in his nervous impatience while they stood outside the open door to the delivery room. He glanced inside the room. He couldn't see her, but he knew she was there; he could hear her speaking in a hushed tone with the dark-blue skinned asari nurse. A hand appeared on his left shoulder.

Garrus turned his head towards Hannah, who smiled up at him.

"Relax Vakarian," she said while reaching up with her left hand and brushing aside a stray strand of hair. "You're even more nervous now than her father was when I gave birth to her. Except, he fainted even before he got through the door to my room."

Garrus sighed a chuckle at that as he let his hands fall to his sides, holding his head up high. His brow plates shifted upwards slightly as he tried to relax himself as best as he could. "I-I…just don't know what to expect. Hell, I don't know anything about being a father."

Hannah smiled and patted him on the shoulder just as the asari nurse emerged from behind the privacy curtain and waved them both inside. "Just relax. The moment you see your child, your instincts as a father will kick in." With that, she gave him a gentle encouraging push forward into the room, following close behind him.

His heart raced as he slowly stepped closer and closer to the curtains hiding her bed from view. He could feel his hands shaking uncontrollably at his sides and his breathing coming in deep takes. He stopped just in front of the privacy curtain. He stood there for a moment before reaching a hand up towards the edge of the curtain. He froze. What should he expect? Was his child even going to look anything like a cross between a human and turian? Was the child going to be deformed? Or was the child going to have some sort of disability? The questions swirled around inside his head like a whirlpool, making him dizzy. He began to sway on his feet slightly.

A hand appeared on his left shoulder again, stopping him from collapsing backwards.

He glanced back at Hannah again, who simply smiled and gave him an assuring nod.

Looking back at the curtain, Garrus took a deep breath and took hold of the curtain. He paused for a moment to close his eyes, but realized quickly afterwards that he needed to keep his eyes open. Opening his eyes again, he gently pulled the curtain aside.

She reclined in the bed, propped up against the large pillow, her eyes turned down to look at the bundle in her arms. Her long blonde hair was tucked neatly behind her ears, held back by an amber colored plastic hairband. No sooner had she heard the curtain being pulled back did Shepard look up at him with a bright smile. Tears streamed from her vivid green eyes.

"Garrus," she said with a stifled sniffle.

"Ranae," Garrus said as he stepped closer to the bed.

Shepard's eyes flicked towards her mother, and she smiled wider. "Mom. Glad you're here too."

"I wouldn't miss this, dear," Hannah replied with a nod of her head.

A chair stood beside the bed, which Garrus promptly lowered himself down on, pulling it just a bit closer to the bed as his blue eyes turned down to the blanket wrap in Shepard's arms. In response, Shepard turned the bundle towards him slightly so that he could see the little head that peered back out at him.

Garrus' eyes widened as tears slowly began to form in the corners of his eyes.

There, looking back at him with the same vivid green eyes as her mother, was the plated face of a small turian girl. There was nearly no human features to her appearance, save for the small subtle curved lobes of pink skin on either side of her head that were most likely her ears. The infant blinked as she looked curiously at her father, quietly studying his face carefully. She made not a single sound.

"She looks just like her father," Shepard said in a hushed voice.

Garrus' mandibles parted slightly as he smiled lightly, still looking tearfully at the newborn turian, "And she's got her mother's eyes." He turned his watering eyes up towards Shepard, who was already looking at him with a soft smile. He leaned forward and the two of them kissed for several seconds.

Without a word, Shepard maneuvered the infant towards Garrus, which took him slightly by surprise. A bit of fear gripped him as well, afraid that he might drop the fragile infant. But with some gentle coaxing from Shepard, he reached out and gently wrapped his own arms around his daughter. A single tear rolled down his plated cheek from his left eye and fell with a quiet pat on the infants blanket wrap.

He turned his body so that Hannah could have a good look at the child. He sniffled lightly while gazing down at his daughter, prompting both Shepard and her mother to reach their hands out to place one hand on both his shoulders. The infant stared up at him with her stunning green eyes, observing the tears rolling down his plated cheeks.

A subtle shifting came from the infants blanket and a small hand appeared beside her head. Garrus' eyes widened again upon seeing her reach her right hand up and gently touch his left cheek. She gently ran her four small fingers down his cheek and across his mandible.

"It's okay," Garrus said as he sniffled again softly, "daddy's not sad. Just…very happy."

Hannah leaned forward and reached her left hand out to lightly touch the infant on her nose with her left index finger, "Don't forget about your grandmother. She's just as happy as your father is." The newborn blinked as she moved her small hand from Garrus' mandible to Hannah's index finger, wrapping her four fingers around it.

Everyone simply sat there in relative silence for several minutes, all eyes watching the infant turian peering curiously up at Hannah and Garrus before Shepard sniffled lightly and reached up to wipe away her tears. "So…what should we name her?"

Hannah leaned back and stood up straight after the infant let go of her finger, prompting Garrus to gently tuck that small arm back beneath the blanket wrap. He lightl touched her on her nose with his index finger before he turned his head to look up at Shepard. The two of them looked at each other for a brief moment before Shepard again reached up to wipe another tear away from her right cheek.

"How about Hope?" Shepard asked as she glanced up at her mother.

"Hope?" Hannah repeated, shaking her head in response. "If you ask me, it's far too overused."

"What about…" Garrus said as he paused for a moment to peer down at his daughter again, his mandibles parting slightly as he smiled down at her. "How about…Khraia?" He looked back up at Shepard, "It means 'miracle' in my language."

Shepard and Hannah both turned their eyes down to the small turian girl in Garrus' arms.

"Khraia," Shepard said softly, to which the infant craned its head back to look up at her mother. Shepard smiled softly, "She's definitely a miracle…a miracle of love."

Μ

AN: If it's difficult to get an idea of what Khraia(KRAY-AH) looks like, just think of a normal looking turian with small rounded bits of skin for earlobes on both sides of her head, and give her four fingers on each hand instead of three. And you have what I've envisioned a turian-human hybrid to look like. Just a normal turian with slight human qualities.