Disclaimer: I am not in any way related to Bioware or the Mass Effect series. I am making no profit from writing this and am doing so purely for pleasure.

Pairings: Female Shepard/Garrus Vakarian

Summary: [What would it have been like if Shepard and Garrus had met as equals?] Spectre Vakarian decides to tag along on Shepard's mission to take down Saren. Their partnership develops in ways neither of them expected, with lots of banter and fluff. This story arc follows ME1 canon, with some liberties taken.

Air and Lightning

01. In which Garrus is surprised

Garrus Vakarian was one unhappy Spectre.

The humans were arguing passionately, none more so than the little female spitfire at their centre. He admired the way she kept her frustration caged in that compact frame, letting only a hint of it show in her voice as she faced down the Council. He'd been in her place before and hadn't been able to hold in the cursing, but she kept her words professional if forceful.

Then Saren spoke up, his holo sneering down at them. Garrus let out an involuntary snarl at the traitor's voice, and saw the human stiffen with anger at the same time, many-fingered hands curling into fists.

"– can't defend myself against a dream, Councillors."

That was it. Garrus pushed away from the pillar he'd been leaning on, stepping out of the shadows in the balcony. "It's not only about the so-called dream," he said, letting his voice ring out into the high space before him. "And you know it, Saren." He spit the name out.

The female's head snapped up. Her gaze locked with his own: brilliant green searing icy blue. He gave her the barest of nods, and then turned to stare at Saren's transparent image. "Perhaps neither I nor the humans have sufficient evidence on our own. However, the fact that we have both reached the same conclusion, entirely separately, should be evidence in itself."

He turned to the Council, ignoring Saren's narrowed eyes. "You'll remember that I brought the issue before you months ago, Councillors, before the humans even knew who Saren was, and I'm sure it can be proven that the humans and I have not met before today. My investigations were top-secret, as per your orders. No one knew. Certainly the humans couldn't have known."

The asari councillor frowned. "That is… a persuasive coincidence, Vakarian, but lack of substantial evidence is a fact. We still cannot strip Saren of his status on these grounds."

Garrus growled, his tightening grip on the rail causing the metal to creak. "Spirits forgive me, but you lot –"

At the same time, Saren smirked and said, "I'm glad to see reason prevail –"

"You cannot simply dismiss…!" the human ambassador started to whine.

"Confine him to Citadel space."

The human's voice cut them all off, clear and strong. Her eyes were steady, staring down each Councillor in turn. "Let's all be reasonable. Surely there are enough grounds to confine Saren to Citadel space for now while we build our case against him, if you refuse to disbar him entirely. Give us time to get the evidence you want."

"How dare you!" Saren snarled.

The human glared back at him, completely unintimidated. "Oh, is the big bad traitor starting to feel afraid?" she taunted.

Garrus laughed, and decided to throw his own vote in. "I think the human's suggestion is a reasonable compromise."

The Council traded glances. Then the salarian nodded. "One Citadel month," he announced.

"Surely you don't mean to cage me, like some… simple miscreant!" Saren snapped.

"It will only be for one month, Spectre," the asari Councillor said calmly. "I am sure the Citadel will benefit from your presence in this period. Perhaps you could lend Citadel Security your expertise. We expect your presence here in two days."

"It is done," the turian Councillor agreed.

Saren stared at them all – a smirking Garrus, the Council, the grimly satisfied humans. Then, with a wordless scream of rage, he cut the video connection, and his holo flickered out.

"The humans shall be in charge of the investigation. Vakarian, you may do as you wish. That is all."

The humans started muttering amongst themselves, save for the female, who turned to Garrus, tilting that strangely malleable human face up to look at him. Then she smiled, and gave him a tiny, jaunty little salute – turian style, across the chest, her fingers flicking out casually.

Garrus laughed, mandibles flexing. She was full of surprises, that one. The beeping in his ear alerted him to a message before he could respond, and he looked down at his omni-tool. A glance at the message made him curse. The human doctor, in trouble again. If he didn't suspect that she had information he needed, with all those shady contacts of hers…

He looked up, seeing the human still staring at him. She raised a questioning eyebrow, and somehow her meaning conveyed perfectly across cultures. He hesitated for a moment, and then muttered to himself, "Why not?"

Garrus threw her a human salute, touching two fingers to his temple. She snickered, but then stopped in surprise as he crooked a finger at her in the universal sign of invitation. He jerked his head towards the elevator at the far end of the room, and when he saw her nod, turned and left the balcony.

She was waiting at the elevator door, foot jammed before it to keep it open, ignoring the glares of those around her and the quietly annoyed chime of the elevator door at being forced open for so long. He stepped in, the human following, and directed them to Wards level, shifting impatiently as the door closed.

"Thanks for the help in there," the human said, turning to face him. She held out a hand. "Kei Shepard. I'm with the Alliance."

"I figured," he said, giving her a human handshake. Somehow his three fingers fit easily with her five. He nodded at her armour. "N7 rank. Impressive."

She shrugged. "It's just a rank."

"Hmm." She seemed to mean it, too. A human who didn't value rank? That was rare. "Garrus Vakarian. Spectre."

"I figured," she said dryly. "Impressive."

"It's just a title."

They both grinned at his verbal parry.

"So, you going to tell me what this is about?"

"There's a human doctor in the Wards, Chloe Michel. I've been keeping an eye on her, I have reason to believe she knows something related to Saren, but she keeps getting herself into situations." He scowled. "Almost more trouble than she's worth… in any case, she just pinged me."

"What did she say?"

He sighed. "'Help'."

"Ah, so not asking you out for a coffee then."

He couldn't help the shocked twitch of his mandibles. "How did you…?"

"What?" she said, confusion apparent.

He realised his mistake. She had been making a joke, not insinuating. "Never mind."

Garrus knew she had figured it out, though, when she burst into laughter. He'd hoped she was one of the blundering, completely unsubtle humans, but clearly that had been a vain hope. "The doctor asked you out before? That's adorable!"

He twitched again. "I'd rather you not use that word anywhere near me."

"I'm sorry, but that really is cute."

"Oh, now you're just being mean."

"And very sweet."

"Shepard…"

"Vakarian." Her eyes were bright with humour. Human faces were amazingly expressive, he'd always found. "Okay, I'll stop, if you'll answer me one question."

"Depends."

She nodded at the weapons on his back. "Where can I get beauties like that?"

Once again, she had taken him by surprise. "These are Spectre-requisitioned guns. This is the HMW sniper rifle, and that's the HMW assault."

"So I can't get those, then?"

"I'm afraid not." She looked so disappointed. "Your weapons aren't that bad, you know. Top of the line… apart from Spectre gear."

"Top of the line but nowhere as good as yours."

"Nope." He smirked at her.

"Smugness doesn't become you."

"Oh, I think it does."

"Can I at least touch them?" she pleaded.

"Definitely not." He shuddered at the thought. "My sniper rifle is my life."

She snorted. "You can keep it. I'm more interested in your assault rifle. Come on, humour the poor human here."

"Why do you want to touch my gun so badly?" he demanded.

Shepard stared at him, and one eyebrow rose, slowly. His lips twitched into a smirk.

Oh. Oh. "That… it wasn't… I mean… that didn't come out… right."

They stared at each other. Then, as one, they started laughing.

"You're okay, Vakarian," she said, finally, calming down as the lift reached its destination and they exited, striding into the crowd.

"You're not… as annoying as I thought you'd be," he admitted.

"Oh, thanks for that!"

"You have got to agree that your species is difficult to get along with," he countered. "Your ambassador is a prime example."

"What, that greedy self-serving bastard Udina? Yeah, but he's a politician. Human or not, all politicians are like that."

"I'll give you that."

"I'll take it."

"How human of you."

"You're such an ass."

"Have you been staring at mine?"

"Oh, I thought it was your face."

"You're being mean again."

"It's a human thing."

They heard the raised voices through the door, and the tone was threatening enough that it was clearly not a mere domestic argument going on inside the clinic. Garrus had his rifle in his hands in an instant, and he was surprised to note that Shepard had hers out as well. He hadn't even seen her move.

"Raised half-wall at mid, five paces," he murmured to her as he recalled the layout of the clinic. "Opening to the left, shelves behind."

"I'll roll low and left."

"I'll cover."

"Go."

Garrus palmed open the door, bringing his rifle up. He took in the situation at a glance – one hostage, the doctor, otherwise all hostiles. Shepard was already behind cover, her small frame a distinct advantage. He'd bet that those inside hadn't even seen her move, maybe didn't even realise she was there. Spirits, she was fast.

The leader inside confirmed it. "Stay back, turian!" he barked, holding the doctor like a shield. "There's one of you and five of us! You don't want the good doctor to get hurt, do you?"

He made a show of considering it. "I suppose I don't," he said. "So I'll take you and the two on the right."

"What? What are you –"

His shot went clean through, and the headless body jerked, falling backwards as the doctor screamed and pushed his suddenly lifeless arm away. She scrambled forwards, queering his second shot, and he hissed in annoyance, taking the farthest right henchman out instead. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the two on the left fall.

"Down!" he barked at the silly human woman. "Damn it, woman –"

The last man panicked and raised his pistol at the doctor. Garrus swore. He couldn't get a clear shot, and was about to take the man out through the doctor's shoulder when he screamed and dropped dead.

"All clear!" Shepard called.

"I did call the two on the right," he said, frowning at her as she helped the doctor up.

Shepard actually grinned at him. "You're just jealous that I have the higher kill count now."

"Oh, you do not want to start that with me."

"Three to two, it speaks for itself."

"The doctor was in my way!"

"Excuses. Poor strategic positioning is what I'd call it."

This was exhilarating. Maybe it was just the rush of battle, the adrenaline still pumping, but it had been a long time since someone had challenged him like this, just for fun, without any hidden intent. He grinned back, mandibles fluttering happily. "You're going to regret this."

"Bring it on."

They questioned the doctor and learned about Fist, the Shadow Broker, and the quarian. Shepard mentioned a tip she'd gotten about a krogan mercenary, and so they made a quick diversion to pick him up at C-Sec next door. Since it was her info, Garrus hung back and let her deal with the krogan. She surprised him yet again – and Wrex as well, clearly – in the even-handed way she handled the whole issue and the touchy mercenary.

"Impressive," he murmured in her ear, voice almost fully sub-vocal, as they trailed the stomping krogan out of C-sec.

To his surprise, she blushed very slightly. He'd seen this 'blushing' behaviour before in humans, and as always, he was fascinated by it. Their skin was so thin; it was amazing that they weren't bleeding out all the time from pinpricks. "Glad you approve," she said, keeping her voice equally low. "Can I touch that gun of yours now?"

If he were human, he would be blushing now, and he knew it – and worse, she knew that he knew it. He gave her a rueful grin, and she smiled back almost shyly.

"Will you two come on?" Wrex bellowed. "We've got people to kill!"

"No killing until I say so!" Shepard yelled back. "This is my operation, my team, understand?"

Wrex grumbled something under his breath, but didn't argue.

Garrus looked down at the human in surprise. "Wait, since when was this your operation?"

"The Council put the humans in charge," she reminded him smugly.

"Yes, but the doctor was my informant."

"We saved the doctor together, so now it's ours."

Garrus' jaw dropped. "That's not how it works!"

"My rules." Shepard winked at him.

He huffed. "I didn't have to bring you along, you know."

"And I could have kept you out of the investigation. The Council would have backed me up and sent you to play Spectre elsewhere, you know it as well as I do, because they can't afford to alienate the humans like that."

Garrus stopped dead in his tracks in astonishment.

She took a couple more steps, realised he'd stopped, and turned to face him, fixing her intensely green gaze on him. "Look, Vakarian… I'm not trying to antagonise you. So far, I like you. You're chasing down one of your own people, which is never easy. You're good on the field, judging by that little skirmish we just had. Hell, you seem like a good person and I've never found it this easy to talk to a complete stranger before. But I'm going to take Saren down, on my terms, for the deaths of all my people. I'd like you along, because I sense that you've also got your own beef with him, and I could do with someone of your calibre on my team. But if you can't accept that I'm going to be in charge, I can't do that."

"…I have my own meat from an Earth animal?"

"Oh." Shepard smacked her forehead. "Uh… it's a human saying. It means you've got your own vendetta. Grudge. Thing."

"I see. You know, you're not the only one who's lost something to him. Amongst other things that happened… Nihlus was a friend."

She winced. "I didn't know. I'm… sorry for your loss."

"Saren's a blight on the turian name. He's an embarrassment to the Spectre ranks. He has to be stopped, and so even if it rankles, I'm with you. Even if I have to bow my head to you to do it." He smiled, but there wasn't any humour in it. "That's the turian thing to do, anyway."

"Damn it. I'm not saying this right." Shepard walked right up to Garrus, and put a tentative hand on his arm. "Look, Vakarian… I don't expect you to just meekly tag along. You're a Spectre, for crying out loud. I'd be doing you a disservice if I expected you to just shut up and follow orders. What I'm saying is… if you can accept that I make the final decisions, I can promise you that I will take into account everything you say. You can suggest tactics, strategies, hell, even flight paths and mission choices. You can even tell me you think I'm wrong, as long as you don't question orders when things get critical and we need to move fast. I swear I will listen, and happily. But for a team to work, there has to be one leader. One set of orders. Or the team will tear itself apart."

"…I understand." And, surprisingly, he was actually at peace with the idea. He could see that she was being entirely sincere. If he had to be on someone else's team, he supposed that having Shepard lead it wouldn't be so bad.

She looked hopeful. "Really?"

Garrus sighed. "I'm a turian soldier. Of course I understand."

"So…"

"I said it, didn't I? I'll follow you, for now." He smirked at her. "Until you do something really stupid."

She laughed, and there was definite relief in that sound. "I'll try not to screw things up, then."

"You can try. Oh, and Shepard… call me Garrus."

The look of surprise, relief, and simple happiness that she gave him was unforgettable. He smiled to himself, glad that the peace offering had worked.

His respect for Shepard was growing. There had been no need for her to make him such an offer, let alone such a generous one. Others would have used politics to keep him out of the mission, for fear of having the Spectre steal all the glory. She asked him for nothing but the bare minimum – her sole authority on the field, which as she had pointed out was a necessity in battle. That was something Garrus understood.

Chora's Den was fun. In such close quarters, Garrus went with his assault rifle instead, and the higher rate of fire helped him beat Shepard's score by two men.

"You cheated! Some of those guys were definitely already wounded!"

"By who? We were on opposite sides of the room!"

"By… uh… Wrex!"

"I resent that, Shepard, anyone I hit with my shotgun is dead. No question."

They all looked down at one such victim. He had no chest.

"You may have a point."

"Just admit it, Shepard, I'm ahead of you by two."

"They were… wounded by friendly fire!"

"Give it up, Shepard."

"You have an unfair gun advantage!"

Garrus looked down at himself. "Have you been staring again?"

Wrex guffawed as Shepard punched Garrus in the arm with a groan.

Fist was a pushover, and the only hitch in their plan was when Wrex shot him in the face. Shepard rounded on him.

"What the hell was that?"

"I was paid to kill him. I honour my contracts."

"So? You couldn't have asked me first?"

"He just murdered a man who had surrendered, and you're berating him for not asking you first?" Garrus interrupted.

"That's a secondary issue. Important thing is that I need know I can trust you guys to follow orders!"

Wrex was grinning, a big krogan grin full of teeth. "I like your approach, Shepard," he rumbled. "Fine. That was my last outstanding task. My gun is yours now." He thumped his chest with a fist. "Krogan promise."

"It had better be." Shepard stared down at what was left of Fist, and then sighed. "Much as I don't like this, he was dead anyway for crossing the Shadow Broker. What's done is done. Let's go get that quarian."

Garrus was liking her better and better. Shepard was showing a practicality that was refreshing: dealing with things as they were, instead of dwelling on what could have been done.

They successfully retrieved Tali and her evidence. It was everything that Garrus had hoped for, and he and Shepard exchanged feral smiles when they heard it. Garrus wondered if this human was his lucky charm – everything was falling into place around her, almost without effort.

So it was that, barely a few hours later, Garrus was back in the Council's chambers, listening with grim satisfaction as they tried and failed repeatedly to get a hold of Saren in order that he could face these new accusations. Shepard was tapping her fingers impatiently against her gun, but seemed determined to keep silent, like the dark-skinned male – Anderson – had told her to do before the meeting. "Don't antagonise them, they have nowhere to turn now and it won't do any good to show up the Council," he had told her sternly. Shepard seemed to value his approval highly, and had simply nodded.

Garrus wasn't as patient. "Councillors," he said after the fourth try, "I think it's obvious that Saren realised there was no way out. He had no intention of returning to Citadel space in the first place. He's gone completely rogue now, and we must do what we can from this end."

In the end, the Council not only removed Saren's Spectre status, but gave it to Shepard. Garrus hadn't much cared about the rumours of the possibility of the first human Spectre being appointed, but now that it had happened, he found himself being happy it was Shepard. From all that he'd seen, she was the perfect choice.

After it was over, he went up to her. "Congratulations," he said. "Also, bringing Wrex and Tali with you was genius. The look on your ambassador's face!"

"I know," she said happily. "I wish I had a picture."

He pressed a few keys on his omni-tool, and the snapshot he'd taken of the little pompous man and his red, gaping face popped up. Shepard actually squeaked with glee. "If you give me that, I will be your best friend and you can come on the Normandy with me."

"Is the Normandy yours, now?"

A shadow passed over her features. "Yes," she said, without the enthusiasm Garrus would have expected from someone getting her own ship. "Captain Anderson gave me command. It feels wrong, but… there it is."

She had surprised him yet again. Her words, and her demeanour, showed a loyalty and humility that were at odds with the typical human attitude, and it warmed him to see it. Oddly, Garrus felt compelled to cheer her up. He didn't like seeing her so down. "Well… You know, you should be giving me things to get me to come with you. Think about it: I'm a dashing turian Spectre, giving you insights into the enemy's mind and lending some sorely lacking style to your motley crew… now, what's that worth?"

"I'll touch your rifle," she threatened, a small smile back on her face. Much better.

"Spirits, you drive a hard bargain." He transferred the picture file to her. "So… Tali gave you the evidence. I gave you a picture. What's Wrex going to give you?"

Wrex snorted. "The strongest fighter of you lot, that's what."

"I feel spoiled." Shepard grinned at the three of them, and then it faded. "I'm going to be honest," she said quietly. "The Normandy has an all-human crew, save for you guys. I can pretty much guarantee some hostility and fear, at first. It will be uncomfortable, but I swear that I will try and help as best as I can. I don't like division amongst my people, and I don't care what species you are, you're all my people if you join me. Knowing what you're going to face – are you still up for it?"

Wrex smacked a fist into a palm. "Hell yeah. So far, your ship seems like the best place to be right now to see some real action. Not going to miss out on that."

"I want to help," Tali said firmly. "Saren's working with the geth – if I can be on the frontlines, gather information for the Fleet, then that's where I'll be."

The reassuring smile Shepard gave to Tali changed to a wry smirk when she looked at Garrus. "What do you say?"

"I'm thinking, two Spectres on board a tiny ship, we're either going to kill one another in two weeks, or…"

"Or?"

He just grinned at her. "Or you'll recognise my skills and forfeit the ship to me in deference to my superior abilities."

She choked on her laughter. "Dream on. I'm requisitioning some proper guns, and then we'll see."

"It's not about the gun, it's about how you handle it."

Shepard started to laugh. It took Tali and Wrex a moment more to catch on.

"Damn it." Garrus covered his face with a hand. "Shepard, I swear it's your fault. Your dirty mind is infectious."

"Me? You're the one with the gun fetish!"

"You were the one who wanted to touch mine!"

"Are you two…"

"No!"

"Tali!"

"What?"

Garrus smiled. Strangely enough, despite everything… he was rather looking forward to being on the Normandy.

End Chapter 01

Author's Note: the banter here and terrible attempts at innuendo are only the beginning. There will be a lot of fluff in this story from now on. If romantic and sweet things make you cringe, be warned.

Ashen Skies
"You have an unfair gun advantage!"