Everything had happened so quickly. Hackett had given the order to the entire fleet guarding the Citadel, to disengage and head to the predetermined meeting point somewhere in Systems Alliance space. As the Normandy flew around the Citadel awaiting word from her Commander for a pick-up, Garrus was forced to order Joker to pull them out of there. Joker hated the thought of leaving the Commander behind, because he was one of his closest friends, as well as the only reason that he could safely say that he now had Edi in his life. She may be a sentient A.I but he had never met anything that seemed more human before in his life.

The Catalyst started to pulse. An aura of green energy seemed to be building at it's core and the field was intensifying rapidly. As Joker aimed the Normandy towards the Sol system relay, he heard the familiar voice of Miranda Lawson behind him. The rapid click of her heels, sprinting towards the bridge as she screamed for them not to leave. Garrus held her back and ordered Joker to follow through with the FTL jump. Joker and Garrus both knew just how much the former Cerberus Operative had come to love Shepard and they also knew just how much of that love Shepard had for her, but they also knew that they had to get out of there.

In the final push to the conduit, Liara and Tali had been injured by explosions caused by the onslaught of Harbingers energy beams. As Shepard called for the Normandy to provide evac for his injured teammates, he was surprised when it landed and he found Miranda waiting to aid them aboard. Shepard was delighted to see her in person before he made it to the Citadel because he knew that this would be the real suicide mission. The trip through the Omega 4 relay could be survived, but this had so slight a chance, that he said his goodbyes and left only one regret, and that was not spending more time with the one woman that he had been fighting for a future with. After Tali and Liara had been placed on stretchers, Shepard had grabbed Miranda by the shoulders and kissed her deeply. It was spontaneous but full of all the emotions he could muster. Love.. Happiness.. regret.. despair.. It was a vast cocktail of unknown emotions and for a second, Miranda seemed to melt into it. Afterward however, she placed her hand on his chest, pushing him back. Leaning in close, she whispered

"Come back alive... You promised me you would and I know you never go back on your promises.."

Nodding, Shepard lifted his signature Matlock rifle and led the remaining forces in an all or nothing charge for the conduit. As the Normandy retreated back into space, Miranda stood there for a minute, frozen and attempting to sort out her conflicted mind. Shaking herself out of the daydream, she decided that the best way to help Shepard now would be to make sure his team pulls through. Heading for the med-bay, for the first time ever, she clasped her hands and made a silent prayer to what ever divine power that could be up there listening to her, asking them to look after Shepard and to bring him back to her alive.

Now however, she lay on her knees, in Garrus' arms as he tried to calm her down. She felt as though she had been stabbed through the heart and been left to die. The sounds that were coming from her body were stricken with heartbreak and intense despair. Tears fell down the side of her perfectly sculpted face and mingled with the crusted blood on her uniform. As Garrus held her, he looked out through the front window of the Normandy, watching stars whiz by, wishing that he could do anything to see his best friend again.

That simple fact always surprised Garrus. Since the conflict in the First Contact War, relations between the Turian and Human people had always been on a thin piece of ice, ready to crumble at a moments notice. Although, here was Commander William Shepard, who was one of the four people that Garrus would trust with his life. The others being his quarian girlfriend Tali, his father and his sister, Solana. He was the highest regarded human in Garrus' life and some could say that their friendship would be a prime sample of pro-Turian and Human relations. He would have to eventually go down, check on Tali and if she was up for it, tell her the probable fate of Shepard. He did not expect her to take it well as she always felt in debt to Shepard. He helped her complete her pilgrimage, reclaim the Alarei, brought a sick quarian back to them from the clutches of Cerberus and helped prove her fathers innocence. He had even fought tooth and nail to unite the Quarian people with the Geth, all in the effort of peace and had managed to even give the Quarian people their home world, Rannoch back. He had done so much for every race throughout the Galaxy and now he had probably sacrificed himself again, all in the name of intergalactic peace. Garrus would go and tell Tali eventually, but now he wanted to kneel on the floor, holding his best friends' girlfriend in his arms as she cried and mourn their common loss.