The Captive

Disclaimer: Bioware owns all

Chapter 1: Losing Touch

Commander Shepard rested her assault rifle against her shoulder, her eyes narrowed out across the land. It was an interesting planet. The vegetation excelled during daylight hours- which were roughly between thirty to forty hours, depending on the day of the week and the placement of the system's sun.

During the night the planet inhaled it's vegetation, turned inside out so to speak. The planet became a barren wasteland. It was dangerous to be here during those hours. No cover what so ever, just a blank landscape- a killing zone.

They had a little more than two hours left of daylight. The shuttle that had just left hadn't had anymore room between the samples of vegetation and a dead Turian they had found. No contacts had been made in more than three cycles- Shepard sent her men off.

She couldn't stand the thought of leaving any of them behind without someone to watch their backs. She was their leader, so she would be the last to leave the battle field. Shepard stood by her ideals and morals with an iron fist. Always the first to arrive and the last to leave. Besides, she had two hours, they'd be back with another shuttle in a little more than an hour.

No problem.

Or so she thought, her eyes narrowed as she saw a twinkle in the foliage. That familiar glitter of glass- glass of a scope. She dove to the right as a bullet pounded beside her, narrowly dodging it. Shepard growled in annoyance. She knew exactly who it was firing on her.

Garrus fucking Vakarian.

He was the only one in all the Turian military that matched Shepard in her tactical prowess and marksmanship. She hadn't gotten close enough to test his hand to hand yet. Today, that would change. She pulled her pistol out as she took a running leap into the open.

Shepard made sure her movements were erratic- though that didn't console her much. As much as she hated to admit it, Vakarian was goddamn good at shooting and he rarely missed his target.

She would never tell him that though. Shepard didn't even know the Turian personally and she knew for a fact he was too goddamn cocky for his own good. If it wasn't for this war, maybe she might have known him, maybe they could have been friends, hell if she knew. She herself didn't really mind the thought of "aliens."

In fact, when she had been young she used to dream of other intelligent life. She had made lists of questions she would ask when she became the first human to contact other life. That had been her dream.

Now, here she was gunning them down. Funny.

Shepard ducked behind a tree as another shot whizzed past her. A grin crossed her face as she called out, "Losing your touch, Vakarian!"

She crawled behind a fallen tree around to his position. Her steps were silent, and her breath- even more so.

She could hear amongst the life in the forest the gentle hum of the Turian's breath. His soft shift of body, and quiet clicks of his scope.

Shepard pressed her pistol to his head. He froze as she whispered menacingly, "Boo."

Slowly, the Turian stood to his feet. He left his rifle on the ground as he turned to face Shepard. His mandibles twitched in what she could only describe as a smile. Her eyes raked over the fringe on his head, those ungodly deep blue eyes, and the navy colored blue tattoo's over his face.

Turian's were incredibly fascinating to Shepard. If it weren't for this war, she would have given anything to live amongst them and learn their language and ways of life. She heard they were all trained for the Military until age fifteen- but she wasn't sure if that was true.

Turian's were truly amazing soldiers. Loyal, steadfast, honorable- she would take a team of Turian's over any team the alliance could give her any day. Of course she would never say that around the alliance, any emotions for the Turian's besides hatred could be grounds for a court martial. Maybe not. Still, she didn't need anymore enemies.

There was a faint smirk on Garrus' face as he began to speak. Turian's really did have lovely voices. She loved the way Vakarian's voice rolled off of her body. She couldn't help the smile that crossed her face as she became more aware of the way his voice effected her. Fuck. She sounded like a little school girl.

"I think you are the one losing your touch, Shepard."

Her face blanked and then her eyes narrowed. She pressed the barrel of the pistol to his forehead. "How do you figure?"

She suddenly felt something pressing against her abdomen, the shit-eating grin on the Turian's face said it all. He one-upped her real good. Her eyes landed on his own pistol. So- this is what it felt like to know your death was near.

Fuck that.

Garrus faltered as she stood taller, her resolve strengthened. A broad grin crossed her face. "Nice one Vakarian. I'm not through with you yet though."

Shepard knew she had little to no time before he pulled the trigger. Garrus would make a point out of her. She acted quickly, her other arm sweeping his gun. She heard it go off; relief flooded her body as it hit somewhere behind her.

She slammed her body into the Turian to prevent him from shooting her again. She was about to pull the trigger when the man fell backwards over his perch. She tried to jump back but his talons wrapped around the neck of her armor.

Shepard was jerked forward with all the weight and force of the Turian tumbling down the steep cliff beside her.

They landed in a heap in a wide, open, barren wasteland. Had nighttime already begun? Shepard jumped to her feet as her answer was made clear by the rumbling of the ground. Thresher maw.

Shepard grabbed the Turian beside her and threw him to the side roughly- just as the giant worm roared out of the ground right where had been sitting.

He stumbled to his feet as Shepard grabbed his cowl again and drug him along. Acid sprung at their feet and she growled, "Come on, Turian!"

That seemed to be enough goading for him to get a hold of his bearings. They sprinted for the forest's cover when the ground began to rumble again. Shepard was terrified. She never could predict where these monsters would spring out next, she just forced herself forward as quickly she could alongside Garrus.

The rumbling was getting desperately close to them as they neared cover. With a final push, she shoved the Turian into the forest as the worm reared it's ugly head again. She felt the ground below her shift and roll- she found herself running along it's backside.

It was slimy and slippery, it was difficult for her to regain her balance. The maw screamed angrily as it whipped it's head around trying to attack her. She felt acid sprinkle on her armor, damaging her shields thoroughly. The majority of it was wreaking havoc on the worm's body.

Shepard smirked as she ran up it's head with all intent to jump into the tree line. Of course; that would not be so. The thresher maw flung it's head one last time and Shepard found herself going airborne with all the force of it's fling.

She yelped pitifully. Shepard had never been a big fan of falling. Her body crashed into the tree line. She smacked each branch painfully until she hit the ground with a dull thud. She rolled over onto her back, faintly seeing an outline above her.

A Turian.

He crouched down beside her. She could barely make out the ungodly blue eyes of her enemy as the world blurred and spun around her. She sputtered, "V-Vakaria-"

Shepard's eyes closed and didn't open again as the world blackened around her.

Garrus stared at her in interest as he applied some medigel to her damaged healing unit. His enemy saved his life. Several times that day- all while trying to kill him. The Turian was thoroughly confused. There was something calming about the peaceful look that creased over the Commander's face.

All the furrows and lines were spread smooth. By human standards, he knew her to be a prize- someone highly sought after. By Turian standards, she was passable. Her hair was a pleasing color, and her waist was tapered nicely. He didn't have a human fetish. But he didn't dislike humans either.

Shepard was the best of them, and that he liked. She was an incredible soldier, she rivaled him and he reveled every time they met on the battlefield. He recognized her sweet scent, the way she shot, the way she walked. It had been his goal to be the one to take down Shepard, and here she had just saved his life.

No matter what the other Turian's thought. He wouldn't execute an unarmed opponent. Garrus scooped her up in his arms. He tried to ignore the warmth her body brought to his. His omni tool lit up brightly as he called for extraction.

"On our way Vakarian."

Garrus paused, "I have a hostage, I guess you could say."

"Hostage?"

"Yes. I've captured Commander Athena Shepard."

I am such a huge fan of FemShep and Garrus' romance in mass effect 3. Seriously, their romance is just the best love story of all time. :) Anyways, I've been reading and I find the stories in which they meet before the whole Reaper thing realllllyyyy intriguing. This has been in my mind for some time, so I thought I'd throw it out there to see what y'all think. Let me know!

Thanks for reading!