Mass Effect fanfiction: Lonely Heart - Chapter 16

Chapter 16 – Anderson

Garrus was just about to open his mouth to say something—he wasn't really sure, how he should have responded to Shepard's compliment, but he knew that some kind of reply was expected—when the door to the councilor's office slid open and Donnel Udina walked in.

"Anderson, we need to talk about—" Udina stopped as he belatedly realized that Anderson had company, and that the company was Shepard to boot. "Shepard! What are you doing here?"

"Not used to seeing ghosts, Udina?" Shepard asked sarcastically. Garrus knew full well that Shepard didn't like the previous human ambassador and that she would have been more than happy to support Anderson for the Council, just to annoy Udina. But of course, she had done so because she honestly believed that Anderson could do a better job at running the things in the time of expected turmoil.

"I'd heard you were alive, of course," Udina said and it was obvious that the dislike between him and Shepard was mutual. "But didn't expect to see you back on the Citadel."

"I invited Shepard here to speak with the Council," Anderson said, looking sternly at the other man. "We just finished our meeting."

"You what?" Udina said and Garrus was surprised to see the man so openly questioning the decision made by the one with a higher rank—such behaviour would have been almost unacceptable for a turian. "Councilor, do the words political shit-storm mean anything to you?"

"The Council reinstated my Spectre status," Shepard pointed out, leaning back on the chair. "They're just happy I'm staying out in the Terminus Systems."

Garrus was sure he could hear the 'as if' innuendo in Shepard's voice, but he was never really sure with humans.

"Yes..." the older man said. "I could see how that arrangement works best for both sides. But you really shouldn't have taken a step like this without consulting with me first, councilor."

"I don't answer to you, Udina," Anderson said crossing his arms across his chest. "Why don't you go to your office and think about that for a while?"

"Of course, councilor," Udina replied, and even with his difficulties in reading human voices, Garrus could hear the venom dripping in those words. "Good day to both of you."

The door slid closed behind the bitter, old human ambassador. Garrus clicked his mandibles in disgust. He wanted to say something—comment on what had happened to Shepard—but suddenly he noticed that because Shepard had leaned back on the chair, her hair and right shoulder were very close to his hand. For a moment, he was tempted to touch her hair, or maybe rest his hand on her shoulder, but then Shepard leaned forward again turning to face Anderson.

"Sorry about that," Anderson said, shaking his head. "Udina's never gotten over the fact that I got the Council position instead of him. Sometimes I need to put him in his place."

"No apology needed, sir," Shepard said. "But what do you keep him around for?"

"He's got his uses," Anderson answered, smiling slightly, and nodding his head toward the balcony which overlooked the Presidium. "And if you want something done on the Citadel, he knows who can make it happen." Shepard stood up and followed Anderson's lead. "Plus, he's always happy to attend all those formal diplomatic functions I can't be bothered with."

Shepard leaned to the rain of the balcony and looked around the Presidium that opened around them. Garrus hadn't been on the Citadel since he had left the C-Sec more than year and half earlier, and back then the work to repair the station had barely been started. Now the Presidium at least almost looked like the battle against Saren had never even taken place, and apparently Shepard was thinking the same thing.

"How long did it take to get this place back up to speed after the battle?" she asked as she set her glass down on the rail.

"Still counting," Anderson said, mirroring her posture. "The main areas of commerce and the most populated wards are complete, but estimates for total restoration are sitting around five years. The keepers always surprise us, though, it's like our repairs are annoying. We'll put up an ugly new bulkhead and in a few days they've made it seamless. We never really thought of them as heavy lifters, and I have no idea where they get the resources, but we'd never get done without them."

Shepard stayed quiet for a moment, sipping her drink, and watching the air traffic passing by.

"How have the last couple of years treated you?" she finally asked.

"Serving on the Council isn't how I planned to spend my twilight years," Anderson replied. "Sometimes it feels like I'm just beating my head against a wall."

Garrus felt sympathetic toward the human. Anderson was a soldier, not a politician, but when duty had called him to serve in the Council, he had followed it—and as far as Garrus knew, he had done rather well for himself. Suddenly, the sympathy turned into shame for Garrus' own sake. He had left his Spectre training and C-Sec career because of the bureaucracy and political restrictions, but even through all that, the old human had stood firm trying to warn the Council of what was ahead for the whole galaxy.

"Knowing the truth about Sovereign is brutal," Anderson continued, apparently also thinking about the Reaper threat. "It's nightmare stuff. Can't blame others for not wanting to believe it. But I know how important it is, so I keep trying. Fight the good fight, right?"

"I guess so," Shepard nodded, but Garrus was sure she wasn't entirely convinced. "Talking about fighting... What happened to Gunnery Chief Williams after the Normandy was destroyed?"

Garrus remembered Shepard telling him that the Illusive Man had informed her that the old team was not available. But if the leader of Cerberus couldn't get their hands on Shepard's closest Alliance friend, maybe councilor Anderson could. It was worth a try anyway, but—

"Operations Chief Williams is still with the Alliance, but she's working on a special mission," Anderson said. "It's classified. I can't say any more. Not while you're working with Cerberus. I'm sorry."

"Figures," Shepard sighed. "Can you at least tell me what's going on in the war against the geth? Last I knew, we were still fighting holdouts."

"Here and there, but they are increasingly disorganized," Anderson said. "It's long since stopped being called a war. More like cleanup."

The councilor set his glass down on the rail and started pacing as he spoke.

"Not that you can ever discount them, but we haven't had serious casualties for months," Anderson explained. "A civilian ship will spot an enclave and we send in a squad to clear it. They're not quite the bogeymen they used to be."

"I'm surprised no one can tell Sovereign isn't geth technology," Shepard pointed out when Anderson returned to his previous position leaning against the rail. "Didn't they examine the wreckage?"

"We don't have much to look at," Anderson confessed shaking his head. "Pieces of it rained all over the station. It was chaos, with who knows how many species combing the wards for their dead."

Garrus remembered having returned right in the middle of that mess, when he reapplied to C-Sec and Spectre training after Normandy's destruction—it had burned out many security officers who had been lucky enough to survive the actual battle. It had been miserable time for a lot of people.

"We secured as much of it as we could," Anderson continued. "But between the keepers and a whole lot of unauthorized salvage, there's no way to account for even half of that thing. Another reason they don't want to acknowledge what Sovereign was."

"We have to go," Shepard said putting her glass down and signaling Garrus and Miranda to do the same. "You should come with us, sir. Forget Udina and the Council. Join my crew and help me to stop the Collectors."

"I'm too old to go racing across the galaxy," Anderson shook his head, smiling sadly. "Much as I complain, I've got an important job to do here. The front line – that's got to be yours."

Back during their hunt for Saren, Garrus had learned to respect captain Anderson. He admired human's sense of duty—staying to do a job he didn't like when offered a chance to rush out and be a hero called for a strong character—but he also saw that Shepard was disappointed, which made him sad. On the other hand, he believed that Shepard had known to expect the refusal.

"I wish I could do more to help you," Anderson said as he shook hands with Shepard and the others. "But if you ever want to talk, I'll be here. Just do me a favour and be careful." He glanced sideways toward Miranda who was already heading toward the door. "You can't trust Cerberus."

"Good bye, councilor," Shepard said and led her group out from the office.

When they walked toward the shuttle station that would take them back to the wards they noticed Udina sitting in his office with the door open. The look the old human ambassador gave them when they passed was nothing short of hateful, but no words were changed and in a moment the three of them were in a shuttle.

"Garrus, you go and find that new armour we were talking about earlier," Shepard said when he guided their shuttle toward the Zakera Ward. "Miranda and I will go to get our newest crewmember."

"Okay," Garrus agreed as they landed. He would have preferred to go with Shepard too, but he knew she wanted to be gone from the Citadel as soon as possible and splitting their work would get them out sooner rather than later.

"Good," Shepard nodded as they stepped out from the shuttle. "Meet you back on the Normandy in two hours?"

"Sure thing," Garrus promised as he headed toward the market area, leaving the two human women behind to set up their meeting.