FATED

Chapter 3: Deus Ex Machina

BY: Nikki Deez

Disclaimer: Mass Effect and its characters belong to Bioware. Unfortunately. *Cries in the corner at the realization of this fact.* Didn't make any money from this however. Just wrote it up for the fun of it, and because the voices told me so.

Author's Note: Sorry for taking so epically long to update! RL stuff, and all that!

SHEPARD SAYS:

"The best things in life are the things you don't see coming… because there are no expectations, no assumptions. This? What I feel for you? Definitely unexpected…"

PING! PING! PING! PING! PING! PING!

Bullets ripped into the wall that acted as Jaina's shield and salvation. Jaina Shepard winced at the harsh sound, then coughed, suddenly breathing in a cloud of dust. Grimacing, she glanced to her left, and looked across the battlefield, her bright green eyes searching for the others, her heart hammering in her chest. And not for the first time wondered why things couldn't be simpler. They were on Haestrom, to pick up Tali. But Tali wasn't alone here. The Geth were there as well. Luckily Jaina hadn't come to rescue Tali by herself. She brought friends.

"Damn it Shepard! That sun is doing a number on my shields!" a voice shouted from the far left. Jaina looked across the field at Garrus, who was on the other pillar with his trusty sniper rifle, the Turian using the pillar's elevated position to his advantage, picking off geth after geth, never missing, shots always finding their mark.

"Then we fight from the shade… so quit hiding!" another, deeper voice snarled back at the Turian. Jaina had brought Grunt with them. She figured that the young Krogan needed the exercise. Plus he had been getting edgy. It was almost as if he needed to kill something on a regular basis. Jaina smiled to herself at that thought, ignoring another round of gunfire. Wrex had been like that also.

Jaina gritted her teeth and looked out once more, analyzing the situation. Garrus was taking out Geth. Kal'Reegar was providing cover fire from the tower. And Grunt was basically killing anything that moved within range… including the massive Geth Colossus that was also busy firing tat them all. Another explosion rocked the wall, and Jaina hissed a curse. "We need to take out that Colossus! Garrus! The Geth on my left dead yet?"

"Yea!" Garrus shouted back, then yelping when the Colossus shot at his pillar, Turian ducking behind the wall. "Just like old times, eh Sheppard?" he shouted to her, almost sounding… amused.

Jaina couldn't help but smile at that. It may have been two years, but his sense of humor hadn't changed. Same old Garrus. He always did get a kick out of scoping Geth. "You said it." she yelled back. And then she jumped out from her hiding place, and zeroed in on the Geth trying to flank her to the right, Jaina narrowing her eyes for a second, calling upon her biotic powers, sending a powerful shockwave ribbing through the ground, the Geth sent flying, Jaina following this with shots of her shotgun. And that was when Jaina got an idea.

"Garrus! Grunt! I have an idea!" Jaina shouted into her comm., her eyes busying calculating the distance between herself and the Colossus, which was currently just getting out of repair mode. "I want everyone to fire at the Colossus on my mark. Aim for the head! I need that thing distracted. Then I want everyone to count to five, and then fire again!" Then, without waiting for a response Jaina closed her eyes, and began to call on her biotics, Jaina building it up... Then Jaina reached back… and grabbed her missile launcher. She had four shots left. Time to make them count.

Within seconds she was a glowing, blue star, Jaina wincing, feeling the pressure build, the strain tangible in her features. "Now!" she shouted. She heard the gunshots, felt them rip through the wind. Then she opened her eyes… and charged. With a bionic scream, Jaina felt the energy rip through her body, and she felt her body suddenly slingshot forward, surging forward like a rocket, her biotics allowing her to phase through the walls and rubble that had blocked her before… Jaina suddenly right there… next to the Colossus. The shockwave from her biotics sent the thing reeling… But Jaina didn't stop there… still riding the biotic wave that had brought her to the damn thing… Jaina kept sliding… until she was right under the thing's legs, the Colossus' shields still reeling from the shots the others had shot at it… and shoved the missile launcher right into the Colossus's metallic belly.

"Smile, you son-of-a…" she murmured, the Vanguard giving the machine a devilish smile, ignoring the yells of panic she heard from the others… from Garrus… and squeezed the trigger… firing her last four right at the thing's unprotected belly.

KABOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The M-920 Cain's rockets ripped through the thing's shield, colliding with enough force to rip it's shields and armor, thanks to being fired at pointblank range, Jaina, hissing a curse, feeling the heat burn into her already failing shields, turning her face away to shield her eyes, then opening one eye, looking up… just in time to see one last shot slam into the thing's chest… the Colossus exploding into a thousand pieces… right over her head. And watched as the hulk collapsed, and fell right down on top of her.

When Garrus had realized what Shepard planned to do, he had yelled in horror, roaring in desperation, wanting to tell her not to do what she planned to do… but it had been too late… and he watched in helpless futility as she rocketed forward, using that new biotic charge attack she had recently learned, and ended up right under the Colossus's legs, firing her missiles at pointblank.

Garrus felt it. His heart stopped. Time stood still. And suddenly everything, EVERYTHING, came to a screeching halt. Seconds became hours. She was there, beautiful in her rage and determination. Her hair had come loose. Red hair spilled down on her shoulders. And her eyes. Those hypnotizing, verdant green eyes of hers. They were closed. Almost as if she were already dead. Garrus felt his breath freeze in his lungs. Watched as the missiles ripped through the metal monster's body. And aimed his rifle for one last shot, following the line of sight with trembling hands, knowing that if he didn't kill the damn thing now, it'd kill her. And fired.

The shot rang true. Demolished the last bit of it's shielding. And the Colossus exploded in a fiery ball of death… falling right on his Commander in a fiery explosion.

"SHEPARD!" Garrus roared, the Turian jumping to his feet, no longer caring about keeping his vantage point, the Turrian whipping out his assault rifle, shooting at the remaining Geth, rushing forward, NEEDING to get to her, Garrus hearing something large thunder after him, looking back, seeing Grunt was right behind him, the young Krogan actually looking… concerned. Within seconds the two were next to the burning hulk of the Colossus, Garrus's heart in his throat as he looked at the remains, unable to believe what had just happened. Please Spirits, the Turian thought to himself, please don't let me loose her… not when I just got her back! "Grunt! Help me it up! She must be under." Garrus said to Grunt, pointing, the Turian then holstering his rifle before reaching out a grabbing the edge of the dead Colossus.

For once the Krogan didn't argue and simply nodded before hurrying forward, grabbing the other end of the dead Colossus, and after much effort, the two managed to get the dead Colossus moving… the two gasping and straining… making it move aside, inch by inch… and revealing it's demolished underbelly… and found something neither had expected to see. Shepard, curled up into a small ball… bathed in blue biotic light. And, after a moment, the two watched as the glow disputed, Shepard opening her eyes, and slowly turned to look up at them.

Garrus almost fell to his knees in relief. She was alive! She must have used that biotic barrier ability he had seen Jacob use! "Shepard!" Garrus gasped in relief, the Turian rushing forward to Jaina's side, reaching out to touch her neck, checking for a pulse as she looked up at him, green eyes burning into his deep sea blues. She was a mess. Smoke rose from her armor, blood had trickled from her nose and ears from her effort to erect a Barrier in time, and the edges of her hair had been slightly singed. But she moved. She breathed. Alive! "Are you all right?" he asked, voice deep with concern, feeling a pulse, his other hand reaching for his med pack, and the medigel it contained.

Jaina blinked up at Garrus, then inhaled, and nodded. "I think so…" she murmured. Then she got to her feet, and proceeded to reach up to wipe the blood away from her nose, her movements awkward and disorientated, her eyes full of pain but determined nonetheless to get to Tali. "I'm fine Garrus. Just a little banged up. No need for medigel."

Garrus felt his mandibles flare in shock, then felt his blue eyes narrow. "Shepard, you just had a Colossus blow up on top of you!" Garrus snapped, his heart still racing, unable to believe she was fine! Not after such a close call. "Any other human would be dead! If you hadn't got that Barrier up in time…"

"But I did get it up in time." Shepard snapped back, her green eyes meeting his, her gaze lasers. "I'm fine. See? Just scratches! If you want I'll let Chakwas check me when we get back to the Normandy. But right now I just want to get Tali, and get the fuck off this rock." And with that Jaina climbed to her feet, stumbled once, and ignoring the glare she got, forced her way to the door that would take her to the protected room that held Tali, Jaina pushing past both Garrus and Grunt, the Krogan following in step behind her, the Krogan excitedly complimenting her on how she had 'killed the big, stupid metal thing,' the Krogan then saying "This is why I follow you Shepard, big things!" And his words went unanswered Jaina staring strait ahead as she stalked her way towards the door.

And all Garrus could do was watch Jaina as she hobbled away from him, his blue eyes haunted.

Jaina couldn't let him see how much she hurt. But god it was hard.

She felt like something was… broken. Inside of her. Possibly a broken rib or two. Maybe internal bleeding. When the Colossus had come crashing down on her, she had felt it slam into her… but felt the barrier surround her at the same time. It had taken most of the hit… but not all of it. But she couldn't let Garrus know that. She couldn't let him see her fall.

Not after he had looked her that way. She had come too when she heard them. Heard his voice from far away. Like an angel calling out her name. Archangel. Jaina had smiled to herself. How appropriate a nickname. When they had shoved the Colossus off of her, the light bad been so blinding, like the gate to heaven. When she had looked up at him, after he and Grunt had shoved that damn Colossus off of her… he had looked down at her… the same way she had looked down on him after he nearly died on Omega.

And it made her remember it all over again…

A MONTH AGO…

It had happened so quickly.

One minute they were together, fighting, killing off mercs, just like the old days. She'll never forget the relief she had felt when he had pulled off that helmet and revealed that the mysterious 'Archangel,' was in fact Garrus. She'd been so happy to see him that she actually ran forward to take him into her arms. Not exactly protocol… but after everything that had happened… dying… coming back… learning about the Collectors… to see him there, leaning back on that crate as if a single day had not gone by… she forgot herself, forgot to be the commander, and reacted with her heart instead.

"Garrus! What are you doing here?" she had exclaimed, darting forward to embrace the tall Turian, her arms going around his serpentine neck, then stepping back, seeing Garrus gaze up at her, a look of wonder on his face. Blushing, Jaina cleared her throat and gave Garrus an apologetic smile, knowing she had caught him off guard with the hug. If she only knew how shocked he had been to see her standing there, to know it was really her, and not some paranoid delusion… She had been so happy to see him…

And to see him fall just minutes later… To watch him get gunned down by that gun ship… had been the longest moment of her life. It all happened so quickly. One minute they were grinning at each other, having just killed the last of the Blue Suns… and then the gun ship appeared.

"GARRUS!" Jaina had screamed in warning… turning just as the gun ship started to fire… and watched in horror as the bullets slammed into Garrus, Jaina yelping when hot blue blood splashed the side of her face, Jaina feeling her body freeze… and watched as Garrus fell to the floor. Seconds became minutes. Minutes became hours. And time seemed to come to a halt. The world around her became quiet. And all she could do… was stare. Garrus. Bleeding. Possibly dead. And one word came to her thoughts. NO.

With a roar of animal rage and denial Jaina rolled to her feet, still covered in her friends blood, and let her eyes land on the gun ship. And ignoring the bullets, she charged forward, hands reaching back for her shotgun, hearing both Mordin and Miranda yell warnings, ignoring them. God damn mercs! She would make them pay for hurting the only friend she had left! And with a scream she made it to the window, ducking behind the balcony that served as her only protection, just a few feet away from the hovering gun ship… and then aimed, and fired her shotgun. The bullets of her M-22 Eviscerator slammed into the glass face of the gun ship's cockpit, and Jaina felt her heart sing when she heard the pained yelp of Tarak. And when their eyes met, Jaina gave the wounded Batarian a grim, deadly smile. And fired again. The bullets ripped through the hull of the gunship. And with a shockwave that sent her flying back into the floor, the gun ship exploded in a ball of flame, it's hulk and ir passengers falling to the ground below, a burning hulk od twisted metal.

Jaina did not celebrate its destruction however. Instead she crawled to her feet, and ran to Garrus's fallen form, falling to her knees next to him, her fingers shaking as she reached to touch him, desperate to find a heartbeat there, her own heart pounding, terrified at what she would find… and almost collapsed when Garrus gasped when her fingers touched his face. ALIVE! He was alive! "Garrus!" Jaina exclaimed, her voice cracking, tears stinging her eyes, reaching down to touch the ruin that was her friend's face, her fingers coming away wet with blood. "Hang on Garrus! You hear me? HANG ON!" Then Jaina looked up at Mordin, who had joined her, their eyes meeting. "HELP HIM." she roared at the Salarian in desperation. And watched as the Salarian bent low to tend to Garrus, Jaina forcing herself to pull away from the two, watching from the side, on her knees, fingers trembling, hearing Miranda call the Normandy to come in for an emergency pick-up, her voice sounding light years away. And for the first time in years… Jaina began to pray. Please god… let him live… I can't loose him… not now…

NOW…

Jaina stood in the corridor outside the engine room, having just spoken to Tali, who had agreed to join the fight against the Collectors. Although she was happy to have the Quarian back on the ship, Jaina couldn't help but feel aggravated with having to ask for help in the first place. It just reminded her of the whole mess with the Council, and how they had snubbed her pleas for help. They had turned their backs on her. So had Kaiden. None of them seemed to want to see the danger that the Collectors posed to the galaxy. None. So here she was fighting a secret war. Alone. And was Cerberus footing the bill of her road to hell.

Jaina scowled at that. Cerberus. The same butchers that had murdered so many… It made her question herself in ways she never thought she would… And those doubts… haunted her to no end. A sudden pang of pain sang from her chest, and Jaina let out a hiss, clenching her teeth as she rode the wave, feeling her legs turn to jelly, suddenly having trouble standing upright, stumbling, then colliding with the wall of the corridor. She leaned against the wall. And struggled to stay standing, finding it hard to breath without wincing. Damn it. She definitely had something broken. And not for the first time Jaina found it hard to care.

"Now do you feel like medigel?" a voice asked then, the tone harsh. "Or do we have to wait until your coughing up blood?"

And Jaina looked up to find Garrus standing over her. And scowled. "Not now Garrus." she snarled in warning, and struggled to stand up strait, ignoring the shaking in her legs… and the taste of blood on her tongue. Crap. A rib must have pierced a lung. She needed to get to her cabin ASAP. Needed to get away from those dark blue eyes. Needed to get away from the look they had.

But Garrus didn't back down. Instead he leaned in close, and made her look, blue gaze boring into hers. "Yes now." He retorted, his voice matching hers. "That was damn stupid Shepard. What the hell were you thinking down there? Charging a Colossus? You could have been killed!"

Jaina glared at Garrus, gritting her teeth, feeling blood fill her mouth. She didn't have time for this. "I did what I had to do Garrus! And I'd do it again! To get the job done!" Then she closed her eyes and looked down to the ground. And watched as drops of blood fell from her mouth, and onto the floor. Damn it. Not now! "What difference does it make? It's dead. Job done." she muttered sourly, still unable to meet Garrus's gaze. "Why does it matter to you anyhow?"

And that was when Garrus shocked the hell out of her. He lunged forward, reaching up, and grabbed her by her arms, his grip gentle but still getting a gasp from her nonetheless. And then he leaned in, the two nose to nose. And Garrus did something Jaina never would have expected. He yelled at her. "It matters because we could have lost you today!" he roared, mandibles flaring, his voice a shockwave, echoing down the hall. Then Garrus bowed his head, and let out a shuddering breath, overcome with emotion, Jaina staring at him as he held onto her arms as if they were the only thing that was keeping him upright, his voice become thick. "And that's something that I can't take. Not again. Not after I just got you back." Garrus whispered.

And Jaina felt it. Tears. She couldn't hold them back. Not after that. Not after hearing those words. Not after hearing the desperation and pain in his voice. So Jaina shuddered… and let her head fall into Garrus's chest. And just like that the two found themselves holding one another, both shuddering, both afraid of some day loosing the other. "I'm sorry Garrus," Jaina whispered. "I'm sorry. You're right. That had been… stupid. But I had to do it. If someone is going to give his or her life to this mission… then it has to be me. It has to be me…"

Garrus inhaled sharply at those words, and looked up at the ceiling, a part of him not wanting to hear her say such things. What kind of universe did they live in that such words had to be spoken? He was familiar with sacrifice. It was an ideal drilled into the minds of all young Turians. Sacrifice for the cause, sacrifice for the good of the mission. Do whatever you need to do in order to get the job done. But to know that Shepard was willing to live by such rules… to know she was willing to die so that others can live... a part of him didn't want accept that… because to accept that… would also mean accepting that he could loose her once again.

"I keep seeing it…" Jaina murmured then, her words bringing him back to the moment, at hand Garrus pulling away, hands still holding her, his eyes meeting hers.

"Keep seeing what?" he asked, words soft, almost a whisper.

"I keep seeing you get shot by that damn gun ship back on Omega…" Jaina murmured, then closing her green eyes. "I see it over and over in my head… can't make it go away… Every time I look at you, and see the scars… I remember it all over again." Jaina continued, her voice cracking. "You said that you can't loose me. Well, I can't loose you Garrus… I just… can't. I've got nothing now. No Alliance. No Kaiden. No Liara. No Ashely. Just… you…"

Garrus sighed at that. And reached up to give Jaina's face a gentle caress. "Well, then make a deal. I promise to not die, if you promise not to either." he asked, half joking, half serious. "That way neither one of us will need to look for a new best friend. Deal?"

Jaina smiled a tearful smile, a smile that Garrus knew that no one else ever got to see. And nodded. "Deal." she murmured. And with that word the two smiled, understanding one another in a way that only best friends could. And Jaina let out a pained and grunted. "Okay. Enough talk. Time we went to my cabin and applied that medigel."

Garrus let out a chuckle, and nodded. Then Garrus gave her an appraising look, arching a brow ridge. "I'm no Alliance doctor Shepard… but you look like hell. Think you can get there without any help?" he asked teasingly.

Jaina smiled at that, then made a show of looking up and down the empty corridor. And then sighed tragically. "Noticed that, huh? Yea… think I'm gonna need help there Vakarian… just don't tell anybody… Grunt would probably eat me… and Joker would never let me live it down."

Garrus let out a chuckle, shaking his head. Then, with a nod from Jaina, he bent low, and let her put Jaina arm around his shoulder, the two leaning on one another, and began to help her towards the elevator, the two silently making their way to the elevators.

And just as they were getting to the doors to the elevators, Jaina paused. "Garrus?"

"Yea?"

"I owe you one." Jaina said with a teasing smile.

And Garrus chuckled. "More then one… but I stopped counting ages ago…"