A/N: Here we go, part 3! This has turned out fluffier than a marshmallow and cloud factory.

I can't help but imagine Garrus as popular with the ladies on the Citadel; but only in a way in which he was completely oblivious to it :3

I am overwhelmed about how horrendously nice everyone is here, thanks again for the kind reviews :) Anywhom, final part. So (for now at least) I'm marking it as complete so I can focus on other works. I hope you've enjoyed reading, goodnight. xxx

Somewhere between the moment when he'd left the Main Battery and now, Garrus had winded up lying next to Shepard on her bed.

"Shepard, I got your card."

"Hm? Well you don't need to stand in the doorway like that. Come in, take a seat."

One thing had lead to another, it was as simple as that; as the conversation was masterfully steered around what needed to be said by Shepard, and Garrus – who was feeling more and more awkward - had found himself helplessly following. At times her methods of distracting him had been unorthodox to say in the least...

"Garrus, you look so uncomfortable on the sofa like that. You're my old friend, and old friends get to sit on the bed with me!"

"I'm not sure if that's appropriate, Commander."

"No? Well you can't have any more of this delicious Quarian desert wine if you don't!"

Of course, neither of them was especially drunk and they still weren't doing anything more conspicuous than idly chatting to one another: Shepard, however, had since manoeuvred it so that she had her head resting on his shoulder with his outstretched arm held loosely around her.

And it wasn't like he had made a move to protest such an intimate position either...

There had been a comfortable silence between the pair for a while now.

"Ever since I first clapped eyes on you on the Citadel there's something I've always wanted to know," she sighed, rolling her body ever so slightly closer to him "what exactly does that damned eyepiece of yours do?"

A low chuckle rumbled from Garrus' chest, "If I told you that, I'm afraid I would have to kill you."

"Now there's something I'd like to see you try, Vakarian."

"The long line of terrorist organizations willing to pay through the nose to resurrect you aside, I think I could just about manage it."

"Oh really? Tell me one thing then: Could you manage it with or without your eyepiece?"

"Hah. Nice try Shepard, and that's all I'm saying."

"In all my travels about the galaxy, across each of my lives, I've never seen anyone wear one of those things with such dedication; please tell me that it has some function other than making you look like an incredible badass."

"Oh? So you think my eyepiece makes me look good?"

"Do you really think you need to ask me that?"

There was an awkward pause: Garrus was jolted back into reality as he noticed her cheeks redden slightly, he could have kicked himself for saying something so insensitive.

"Well it's totally understandable if you do," he babbled "Many women have made suggestive comments about it over the years."

Shepard ducked her head.

"Not that I'd ever take them up on their offer or anything, I mean, I think girls should see more than a piece of tech equipment."

Shepard's shoulders started shaking; crap, now he'd made her cry.

"I don't mind it though if you only think I'm handsome because I have an eyepiece, if anything I find it flattering that-"

She buried her face into his armour as the shaking increased.

"Look, it doesn't do anything anyway." he admitted defeatedly "I bought it because I thought it would make me look distinguished and interesting."

The shaking reached a crescendo; it wasn't until he could hear a muffled noise coming from his shoulder that he realised she was laughing.

She pulled her face away from him gasping "I'm sorry. It's just watching you trying to dig yourself out of a hole: Who would have thought the guy who almost-singlehandedly goes up against 3 merc groups and lives to tell the tale gets all tongue-tied around the ladies?"

Garrus tried to swallow the massive blow his pride took just then.

"Listen, I like you Garrus, as a friend and as more than a friend. I don't mind it though if you don't feel the same way, your friendship is too important to me to jeopardize like that. But please, for the sake of what we have, be honest about it."

"It's not like that-" He stopped, trying to choose his words carefully. "I'm not really- I mean, this galaxy is screwed up and you are just about the only thing left in it keeping me sane, spoiling what we have is the last thing I want to do."

"Oh."

"In the military all the girls were falling over themselves for me; all they saw was this guy who was a great shot on the battlefield and when they expected the same thing off of it, I always ended up disappointing."

It was no good; the double entendre of his words set Shepard off giggling again.

"And I didn't mean it like that either!" his mandibles fluttered in embarrassment. "They would always expect me to know what to say, what to do, what they wanted, anything! But I'm not like that at all, and as soon as they realized they left for – what was that human phrase – greener pastures. Shepard, none of them were ever interested in getting to know the real me.

"And then you appeared out of the blue with this chance for me to finally make a difference without getting saddled down with red tape. But I got more than that, for the first time in my life I had someone who listened; my father, Pallin, those girls, nobody would ever listen. Now I'd be lying if I said that I had a human fetish, but I respect you Shepard, and I'm sorry if I ever sent off any mixed signals: Too often I've tried to play relationships with my female friends and it's failed horribly."

"It's ok Garrus, I did overstep the line with the whole petty vandal act."

"But it's not ok; the first time someone is interested in the person I am underneath, I blow it just like I do with everything else."

"Garrus, you've played hot and cold like a malfunctioning tap and sent me to the brink with frustration at times, but the one thing you haven't managed quite yet, is to blow it."

"I appreciate your understanding Shepard, but I honestly don't mind if you wanted to find something closer to home: Jacob likes you and I bet it would take a lot less, uh, persuasion to get him up here."

"Him? You really need to get to get out of the forward batteries a bit more; scuttlebutt is that he and Miranda are trying to have a go at rekindling the old flame." She paused, considering what was just said. "Besides, he isn't exactly my type."

"So what is your type then?"

"Hmmmm. Strong, handsome, dependable, an upstanding sense of justice, a few facial scars to boot..."

"Turian?"

She laughed. "Oh good god no! Relax Garrus, I'm not some kinky alien fetishist; I'm interested in you, for you. As a matter of fact, I hadn't exactly given much thought as to how we could, erm, ease some tension as it were. But you know what? I don't care, maybe we'll figure something out to make it work, and maybe it we won't, worst comes to worst I bet that Mordin knows a thing or two about interspecies relationships..."

Garrus tried to shake the image of Mordin tussling naked with a Krogan out of his head.

"What's the matter Turian? You look like you do when I you for a spin in the Mako-Mako and a big Thresher Maw pops out of the ground."

"Oh, erm- it's nothing!" Even worse crude images involving Mordin and Thresher Maws began to flood into his mind; a subject change was desperately needed."

"Ok then, I've told you what I like in my men, you can tell me what you like in your women."

Thank Palaven for small mercies, although he still wasn't entirely sure how to answer her question. "I don't know, Shepard. I guess I'd like someone who'd always do the right thing, even if did mean hurting me. I guess I'd also want someone who was completely honest with me: Somebody I could trust, someone I knew I could always depend on, somebody like-" He stopped himself, unable to finish the words he knew she would be desperate to hear.

Somebody like you.

"Hmm. Well when you meet her, I promise I won't stand in your way. So...?"

"Heavens Shepard, I'm not quite sure how I got myself into this mess; or what my father would say when he finds out." He lowered his voice slightly in an imitation of his father "Son, when I told you to do things right or don't do them at all that included the birds and the bees."

She laughed.

"Is that your way of saying you're willing to have a go at finding something with me?"

"Yes, I suppose it is. I think we should take it slowly though and see where it goes, at least at first: The last thing I want to do is see one of us getting hurt because we rushed things. But I meant what I said about doing the right thing; the second that you think that this isn't working, tell me. Even if it was because you found your perfect guy and wanted to trade me in for the newer model, I would still prefer it to being strung along."

"And what makes you think I haven't found him already?"

She glanced up and her emerald eyes locked with his sky blues. In that single moment the rest of the universe, along with the hell and highs they were about to face, didn't matter: All that mattered then was that they were together, ready to face anything, united. Garrus' mandibles parted slightly as Shepard leaned her face closer towards his...

"Shepard. This is Joker here, just with a heads up. Were about 15 minutes away from docking in Illium, so you might want to suit up if you haven't done so already."

Garrus pulled away and got off of the bed. "Joker's right, you get ready for Illium; besides, the Thorix Cannon might get lonely if I don't calibrate it soon..."

He narrowly avoided the pillow which was thrown at him as he darted out of the room.

Somewhere else on the Normandy, Kelly Chambers smacked Joker on the arm.

"What the hell did you do that for?"

"Ow! Brittle bones, remember?"

She smacked him again, this time harder.

"Why?"

"No reason. Just a force of old habit."

EDI's interface blinked.

"You know, Joker," Tali chimed "if you're going to have EDI access the security system in Shepard's quarters the least you could do is unmute her."

"Yeah, but then she'll start talking and I hate that."

"Oh really?" Kelly Chambers slinked her hand to EDI's manual controls, turned the volume dial up to max and broke it off cleanly.

Joker cursed his Vrolik syndrome as both girls ran away cackling.

Just another normal day on the Normandy I guess.

FIN?