Oblivious(ShepardxGarrus)

Chapter 5 part 1

"Shepard what's the matter," he asked nervously as she threw a datapad across the room.

"He knows where they are! Shit!" her biotics flared and she used them to throw the chairs.

"Who? Shepard please calm down!"

She sighed and fell to her knees. He hated to see her like this, even if the problem was unknown.

"The Illusive Man, he knows my parents are on Earth," she started to breathe heavily,"If he gets to them then….it's over, everything that I worked for to keep them in hiding is over."

"Shepard, we'll hide them somewhere else, just don't over react,"

She nodded and continued to take deep breaths. Then she counted to ten over and over until she was silent.

"I have no idea where I can put them," She sighed out.

"Palaven,"

"What?"

"My home planet. I could pull some strings with my parents and maybe they could stay there, at least until we beat the Collectors,"

"Garrus….I couldn't allow you to do that,"

"Janey, I'd do anything for you. Plus my parents are huge fans. I know they'll just love you,"

She smiled and stood from her position. Wrapping her arms around him, she chanted thank you over and over to no end.

"But uh...Garrus, one more thing," she looked down and chuckled nervously,"I don't think they know I'm alive,"

Shepard's parents lived in a comfy, fully furnished, apartment that was provided to them after they left the military. It was fairly large and had many colorful plants growing on the front porch.

"My father may have seemed tough, but he loved gardening," Shepard spoke softly while picking one of the petals of a pink rose and sniffing it.

This made Garrus jump in surprise. Her father planted pink roses, that was a surprise to him. Maybe it was a sign that he was going in the right direction with the flowers.

With a bit of hesitation she rang the doorbell. He could see the uneasiness in her eyes. In all the time he'd been hearing about Shepard and working for her, he'd never seen her look so scared. Not while fighting Saren, not on Virmire, never.

A tall redheaded man stood in the doorway. He stared down at Shepard without speaking a word.

In disbelief he reached his hand out and gently stroked her cheek. She nuzzled into his hand, just like she'd always done when Garrus did the same thing.

"Jane…..is...It can't be you," his voice was shaky, like if he said a word too fast he would burst into tears at any moment.

"It's me, Papa," she said the last word with a bit of strain, like she hadn't said it in so long that it made her feel strange.

"You're dead. This can't be real,"

"It's real," She smiled and jumped into his arms,"It's real, Papa! I'm real, I'm alive. I'm here to stay,"

He hesitantly wrapped his arms around her. It was soft at first, but then he began to squeeze her tight, like he was holding on to her for dear life.

"The best way to a woman is through her father," Miranda's voice chimed through his head.

He didn't want to speak up, to ruin the moment. Shepard was so happy, he didn't want to change that, so he let the hug continue without speaking a word.

"It's watching things like this that make me want to visit my father," Tali said softly as they pulled away from each other.

Shepard's eyes were stained with tears and her face was bright red. Her father was wiping away the tears away that dared to fall.

"Dad, I have something to tell you...and it's not good,"

He looked at her, with a regular fatherly smile. He placed his hand on top of her head and tousled her hair slightly.

"As long as you're here I don't care what you're doing,"

"I'm working with some bad people to fight the reapers and their leader knows where you are so...I want to relocate you,"

"Jeff, who's at the door?" A feminine voice called through the house.

"I-is that mom?" she asked happily and he nodded, gesturing for her to come in. Which she did happily, running to see her mother once more.

"And you two are?" Garrus's heart jumped when he realized that he was addressing him and Tali.

"I'm Tali'zorah vas Normandy," she said while placing her hand over chest.

"Garrus Vakarian,"

"You two worked with my baby girl back on the SR-1, correct?" they both nodded and he chuckled,"Stop being so stiff, you're my daughters friends I don't bite."

"Might I mention that it is an honor to meet the father of the great commander Shepard," Tali said.

"And it's an honor to meet one of the best Quarian engineers the galaxy has to offer," he turned his gaze to Garrus,"And Archangel."

"The pleasure is mine, Sir," he said, still being quite stiff.

"Come on in you two, I'm sure we have some dextro food for you to snack on while we talk things out,"

They followed her father into the kitchen, where Shepard stood in her mother's arms. She was still crying and holding on, it was sweet.

"Don't tell anyone you saw me cry, ok. The last thing I need my crew to know is that I get emotional," Shepard said sternly and her parents broke into a fit of laughter.

"Some things just don't change," her mother said to her father softly.

"This is my dad, Jeff," she said while pointing to the tall male behind her,"And this is my mom, Linda."

The woman waved. Shepard clearly had her complexion. Same eyes, same ears, same lips, but Shepard had her father's fiery red hair, and Spirits it tied the look together.

"I think I have some dextro cookies if you'd like them, I didn't really think we were going to have guest. If I'd known I would've gotten more," her mother was flustered from the lack of order.

"It's fine, Ma'am that's more than enough," Garrus said.

"I'll take a cookie," Tali raised her hand and the woman giggled, handing her a plate of cookies. Talj sat at the table and shoved them into her mask, eating each cookie after she cleaned it.

"She...likes sweets," Shepard said awkwardly.

"That's besides the point," he father was now serious,"Who are these 'Bad people' that you're working for?"

"Cerberus," Garrus spoke for her, seeing as she didn't want to say it.

Her mother gasped,"Is that true darling?"

She nodded and looked away. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt her family by looking them in the eye father dropping a bomb like that.

"Jane, I trust you," Jeff placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I do too," Linda nodded slowly.

"That's why I need to leave Earth. The leader knows where you are, I don't want you hurt,"

"Where will we be going,"

"With my family, on Palaven," Garrus spoke up.

"I've only been to Palaven a few times, Jane was just a baby when we lived there," her father said.

"Well pack your bags, we're gonna have to take you back until I cut my ties with Cerberus."