literature

Aftereffect, Pt. 8

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"Ya know, Scars, I been thinkin'," James commented as he and Garrus walked along a narrow deserted street. Tall empty shells of buildings surrounded them on either side, the wrecked city eerily silent.  They had been walking for two days now and had seen sign of no other living person. A few animals had sought shelter among the empty buildings, but any survivors had either relocated to a more defensible location or they were hiding from the two heavily-armored and armed soldiers.

"About what?" Garrus asked wearily, not really in the mood to talk but opting to humor his companion for now.

"About Cerberus. I thought the Illusive Man had turned them all into Reaper husk mutants."

"Yeah, so?" Garrus' exhausted mind was missing the obvious point and knowing it made him more irritable.

"So..." James said with exaggerated patience, "Shouldn't they all have shut down when Shepard activated the Citadel like the rest of the Reapers?" He easily clambered over a huge fallen block of stone, then stood waiting to help Garrus over it.

The turian stubbornly refused help, not wanting to show how damned old the young marine was suddenly making him feel, but his heart was only half in it, too stunned by James' observation to put up much of a fuss when he lost his footing and the human quickly steadied him.

"Maybe... not everyone had been turned into a Reaper hybrid?" he suggested tentatively, praying that were only the case. He could not bear thinking of the alternative.

"Yeah, I hope so," James remarked soberly as he began picking a path through the debris that obstructed the cross street they stood on.

Garrus had only a second's warning as his visor picked up a heat signature above. "Get down!" he shouted, tackling James to the ground as a well-placed shot passed through where the marine's head had just been. The two of them crouched low behind some rubble as Garrus tried to spot the shooter. His visor's adjusted magnification picked up nothing, however, and he cursed in frustration.

"Guess we're not alone here, after all," James remarked dryly. "Cerberus?"

"I don't think so," the turian said quietly. He was still scanning the buildings around them as he spoke. He cursed his injured arm which still was not strong enough to cradle his sniper rifle. He would have felt much better about having the weapon available right about now. Whoever had shot at them was doing a good job at hiding now. Not a trace showed up on his visor's scanners, yet neither he nor James dared move, yet.

"Knew it was too quiet," the marine muttered, rifle held at the ready as he too scanned the buildings for any sign of their attackers.

"We know you're still down there," a harsh voice called down, echoing off the surrounding buildings and effectively disguising the speaker's exact location. "You come heavily armed into our territory where the war is long since over. You can only mean trouble. Snipers are trained on your location; if you try to come one step further, you will be eliminated. I suggest you go back the way you came."

James glanced at Garrus but it was the turian who answered the voice. "We don't want any trouble. We were returning to London when our shuttle was shot down by Cerberus. We're just trying to pass through."

A long silence greeted this announcement and for a moment, Garrus thought the speaker was not willing to negotiate. Finally, the voice was back. "That's impossible. Cerberus was defeated with the Reapers. Everyone knows that." Unless the turian were very much mistaken, the voice sounded a bit shaken by the news, despite his adamant denial.

"Yeah, we thought so, too. Right until they shot down our shuttle," Garrus shouted back. Meeting James' eye grimly, he put down his gun and made to step out of hiding unarmed. The marine shook his head vehemently but the turian gave a brief nod and moved out of cover, raising his arms over his head in the universal sign of "I mean no harm." To his relief, his injured arm actually behaved for the time being.

James held his breath, every muscle in his body tense as he waited for a shot to ring out. Garrus' armor had powerful shielding but a well-placed shot from a good sniper rifle could rip through them like butter. Shepard had been deadly with one, notable for quick headshots before the target even knew she was there.

The expected shot never came. The silence ran on as, presumably, the speaker conferred on what to do with them next. When the voice spoke again, James nearly jumped a foot in the air as the speaker was right behind him.

"Put the gun down and keep your hands in the air. Turn around slowly," the man said, with a calmness to his tone that came from complete confidence in having the situation under control. James looked up and met Garrus' eye and the turian nodded slowly, keeping his own hands raised as more people began to appear out of the rubble. They were a ragged looking bunch, humans and aliens mixed, James even spotted a vorcha, but they were all heavily armed and carried their weapons as if they knew how to use them.

Sighing, James slowly put down his rifle and got to his feet, keeping his hands in the air. "Take it easy," he told the speaker, finally turning his head to get a look at the man. It was an older human, grizzled with a scar across the right side of his face that appeared to be the result of some sort of blast. His body was bulky in a way that suggested he had once been firmly muscled before age had taken its inevitable toll, but he still carried his weapon with a confidence, keeping it trained on Vega.

"You look familiar, boy," the leader said, spitting off to the side without ever taking his eyes off the marine.

Garrus slowly turned so he could face the speaker. "He's James Vega and I'm Garrus Vakarian, formerly of the Alliance vessel SR-2 Normandy, crew of Commander Shep-"

"Pull the other one," the old man interrupted with something between a laugh and a snarl. His eyes were like cold chips of ice, no emotion as he gave both of them a hard look.

Not understanding the human phrase, Garrus glanced uncertainly at James. "It's true. Look at my tags if you don't believe us." James slowly reached into his collar and pulled out his military issue dogtags, holding them out for the leader to inspect.

The older man frowned at him suspiciously and then nodded to one of his men to step forward and take a look. The man stepped forward as James held perfectly still, holding the tags at eye level. The man gave a sour grunt and stepped back, nodding to his commander.

"Well I'll be damned," the old man muttered, staring at James and then glancing over at Garrus. Whatever else he thought about their claims would have to wait for it seemed the man had more urgent concerns. "You said Cerberus shot ya down? Any chance they followed ya in here?" At these words, some of his companions began looking around a bit nervously, as if Cerberus troops were suddenly going to start pouring out of every building. Not that James could blame them.

"It's highly unlikely. They mostly seemed interested in our shuttle and they didn't seem to be hunting for us when we left the area," Garrus replied. The turian held his head proudly, as he eyed the old man in front of them. The delays to get back to Shepard were killing him, but he did not show it, outwardly as calm as ever.

The old man nodded after a moment's silent consideration. "Right. Let's get outta sight, just in case. Then you can fill us in on what's been going on since those damn Reapers finally fell." He turned to go and his men fell in around James and Garrus, offering them no choice but to follow.

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It was late in the evening when Shepard finally emerged from her room. She looked weary beyond words and her eyes were red as if she had been crying. She set off toward the mess, not quite remembering when she last ate but knowing instinctively that she would likely feel much better with a full belly.

"Hey, Commander! Good to see you out and about!"

Shepard turned and saw a man with a hat on limping toward her, a smile on his face that somehow never quite reached his eyes. There was a sadness in them that was only emphasized by his overly jovial attitude.

"Hello, Joker," she replied, having taken a moment to guiltily recall his name. "I was just getting some food." She waited for him to catch up to her and then turned to walk beside him, moderating her speed so as to not outpace him.

Joker tilted his head to peer up at the taller woman, eyeing her shrewdly. "Did you remember something finally?"

Shepard glanced at him in surprise and then shook her head slowly. "No... I didn't," she sighed heavily. "Liara showed me a holo she had made, detailing the war. It was... hard to watch."

"Yeah, try living it," Joker snorted. "Don't worry Commander. Everyone seems confident your memories will come back and you'll be good as new, and I can go back to being the resident handicap."

Shepard glanced at him in surprise before realizing he was making a joke. They walked along in silence for a moment, Shepard mulling over a question she desperately wanted to ask someone. "Joker," she finally began, then hesitated again.

"Yeah?" He glanced up at her, noting her obvious struggle. "What is it?"

"Joker, um... what... what happened to Garrus?" she blurted it out a bit anxiously. "I mean... He's often mentioned in passing, but he's not here now and I wondered if..." She could not bring herself to say 'dead.' She could not consciously remember the turian, but pictures of him, hearing his name, caused something within her to lurch painfully.

"Oh, Garrus?" Joker shook his head, looking relieved. "He's around, somewhere." The man paused and tilted his head. "Actually... come to think of it, I haven't seen Garrus or James in a few days. They should be here, though. Especially Garrus." She wondered what that meant. "I'll ask around and let you know."

They reached the mess hall and Joker turned to keep walking on to wherever he had been heading but Shepard hesitated. "Joker?" The pilot stopped and looked back at her. "Were... Garrus and I close?" It sounded absurd to actually voice the question out loud. Whoever heard of a turian and a human?

The pain was visible in Joker's face again for a brief moment before his voice took on a brisk, false cheer. "Oh yea, Commander. You two... you two were great together. Inseparable." He nodded at her, almost saying something more and then shaking his head. "I'll let you know what I find, Commander."

She stood there in the hallway staring after Joker, no longer hungry.
Another long wait between installments. I really liked the scene between Joker and Shepard. I imagine Joker keeps his usual comedic shield up, despite his pain of loss for EDI.

Garrus, James, and Joker property of Bioware, Mass Effect.

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Troubled-Beginings's avatar
Just started reading and this is one of my favourite fan-fic's for after the war out there!
You've gone a really good job on all of these instalments & captured the galaxies best couple perfectly! - even with the added tensions with amnesia and cerberus.

I'm a total sucker for these, and I can't wait to read some more!

Good luck writing!