A/N:

First of all I am so sorry for the long hiatus! Between all the holidays, moving to a new apartment and several health severe health issues that still haven't been solved; a lot has been on my plate and I'm just getting back into story mode. I will try my hardest to not have a gap this large again in chapters and thank you to all those that have read thus far. I really appreciate it!

This chapter is shorter but I'm going to try and pump out more updates when possible.

Also:

I put songs at the beginning of my chapters generally to set the mood and give a small hint at what the chapters are going to be like. However, for this chapter I highly recommend listening to this song. Honestly, it's not just for this chapter but for the character that Shepard is in general.

Human

I can hold my breath

I can bite my tongue

I can stay awake for days

If that's what you want

Be your number one

I can fake a smile

I can force a laugh

I can dance and play the part

If that's what you ask

Give you all I am

I can do it

I can do it

I can do it

But I'm only human

And I bleed when I fall down

I'm only human

And I crash and I break down

Your words in my head, knives in my heart

You build me up and then I fall apart

'Cause I'm only human

I can turn it on

Be a good machine

I can hold the weight of worlds

If that's what you need

Be your everything

I can do it

I can do it

I'll get through it

But I'm only human

And I bleed when I fall down

I'm only human

And I crash and I break down

Your words in my head, knives in my heart

You build me up and then I fall apart

'Cause I'm only human

I'm only human

I'm only human

Just a little human

I can take so much

'Till I've had enough

Cause I'm only human

And I bleed when I fall down

I'm only human

And I crash and i break down

your words in my head, knives in my heart

You build me up and then I fall apart

'Cause I'm only human

Garrus woke not with a bang, but with a whimper. Sleep clouded his mind, silently trying to convince him that the sound was naught but a dream and that he should return to it. The sight presented to his freshly waking eyes really did nothing to combat that either. Ameenah body was entangled in sheets, the thin fabric pulled tight to accentuate certain curves while small areas of skin peeked out where the royal blue fabric didn't stretch. Shaking his head to clear his mind a bit more from sleep, his eyes moving up to her face. Her eyes were squeezed shut, her lips slightly parted, quiet murmured words that were too soft for him to pick up leaving her lips. Garrus brow furrowed, staring down at the smaller woman beside him, already analyzing her in his mind.

Garrus had let his emotions get the better of him, vids doing a reunion like theirs absolutely no justice. In the haze of getting her to himself, and touching her and re-acclimating themselves with one anothers bodies, he had forgotten to ask her what had happened while they were apart. Silent reprimands flew about his mind as he looked over his lover, pulling up several things he had noticed yet not asked about. She walked with a limp in her right leg, although her gait was generally slower than the speed walking that they had grown used to. Her ankle had silvery, barely raised scars and her skin had lines of two- or three-toned differences. Usually by now though, her wounds had completely healed with no obvious signs of trauma. Hell, give her a few days and most bullet wounds, skin grafts or fractures were 'better than new' or so she said. Although, like most technology at the moment, he had no doubt that her cybernetics had probably been impacted. Again, another question that could have been asked if he had kept his arousal in check…

Another soft whimper from her drew his attention once again to her physical form. He hesitated for a moment, his talons hovering lightly over her face before he placed his fingers against her cheek. Her body jerked as soon as he touched her; the breath shocked from her body, eyes darting about before she locked eyes with Garrus. She could feel the soft rumbling through his hand and the gentle, repetitious sound forced her breathing to calm down. Her eyes remained locked on his as he focused on slowing her breathing, the frenzied look in her eyes giving way to one of absolute exhaustion. A weak smile twisted onto her lips, giving a small nod of appreciation towards Garrus before the smile fell away.

"Man", she breathed out, twisting onto her back and running her hand lightly over her face. Ameenah drew her bottom lip between her teeth, beginning to gnaw lightly on the flesh, her breath catching in her throat before she swallowed it down. "I thought that being on the Normandy would have made it at least a little better."

Garrus studied her for a moment before pushing himself up into a sitting position alongside her, arms gently scooping underneath her and pulling her onto his lap. Ameenah pulled her arms against her body, fidgeting until she found a comfortable spot and let loose another sigh.

"Hey", he murmured against the softness of her hair. "You know that I've always got you. Now, I realize that we may have jumped the gun last night."

Shepard's hand barely blocked out her chuckle, gulping it down as Garrus continued speaking.

"But", he interrupted her laughter, doing nothing to hide the smirk on his mandibles. "I'm sure that we can fill in those moments that we missed. Now...why don't you fill me in on what I've missed and I'll see if I can help? Remember, you're not in this alone, ama."

Ameenah leaned into his chest, hiding her face against his cowl. Garrus had never shied away from the role of the caretaker in their relationship. Honestly, throughout the war she had felt as if she was being selfish. She tried to be there for him when she could be but honestly was pulled so thin by every single person with every single request for her attention and energy. But he had always managed to corner her, make her bare her burdens to him and release some of the tension that had built in her (in both sexual and non-sexual ways). He played the poignant realist to her impassioned optimist; she tried her best to bring hope to all, while he tried to do what was best for the overall picture.

"Well I guess I should start from the beginning", she started, eyes tracing along lines and shifts in his plates. "I was found unconscious three days after the Crucible went off. C-Sec pulled together all their resources and a bunch of volunteers and had started looking for any survivors...or bodies."

Her hand pulled lightly at the blankets that had been wrapped tight around her body and began pointing towards pieces of her body as she went along.

"My face had been covered in second degree burns", she said, pointing at several discolorations spots on her face. "Whatever my hardsuit covered had really bad first degree burns. My undersuit was practically glued to my entire body. Luckily, I was out for when they pulled that off, but healing skin itches like a bitch. My left arm was almost completely fucked; my shoulder was dislocated and broken. I had four broken ribs, a fractured hip. My right knee had a muscle tear and they put the bones in my ankle back together like a puzzle piece...and...I was one giant bruise."

She listed off each of her injuries as if she was talking about what she had eaten yesterday, peppering her statements with defensive light-heartedness. She knew that she shouldn't be alive. With all the bone fractures, burns and blood loss, shock should have claimed her within the first hour that she was down there. Her arms unconsciously wrapped around her body, a chill creeping up her spine. Ameenah tried to avoid these thoughts; the thoughts that she had almost died. She mentally chastised herself, knowing that she was a soldier and that she practically begged the angel of death to make out with her. But when your medical records say you were unconscious for almost two weeks and that they had thought you were going to die, it managed to bring it all home.

"My cybernetics pretty much saved my ass in there...my suit had bled completely dry of medi-gel. Without them…"

"We don't have to worry about what would have happened without them because that didn't happen", Garrus interrupted, his hand gently running over the skin on her arms. "It's too bad though, you could have stood a chance in beating me for the title of Scars...but then again, I don't think you quite have my style."

A warm smile broke out on her face, gently elbowing him in the side before continuing with her story.

"They think I'm going to with a limp for another month or so", she murmured, running her left hand lightly over her right hip and down her thigh. "Compared to when I first started physical training, the pain isn't comparable at all. But after an hour or so of constant walking….let me tell you, I've never been more appreciative of medi-gel in my entire life."

"Oh", Garrus breathed out, feeling a worried chill creep up the back of his neck. "I-I didn't exacerbate anything did I? I probably should have asked-I mean I saw the scars but-."

Garrus trailed off as he felt Ameenah's body begin to shake against his, her arms wrapped tightly around herself as she curled in laughter. Her laughter filled their room, Garrus holding her against him as she curled up tighter into a ball and wheezed out laughter. Her cheeks filled with color as tears sprung to her eyes, sucking in large breaths. Garrus' mandibles flared in a grin as he watched the tension melt away from her body; her crease in her brow relaxing as her giggles continued. Her laughter filled the room with warmth, something that hadn't entered the room for weeks. Although it was at his expense, Garrus couldn't help the relieved smile on his face.

"Well don't spare my feelings", Garrus scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Forgive me if I was worried about your physical well-being."

"I'm sorry", Ameenah gasped out, twisting her body up and placing several small kisses against his mandible. "I'm fine, I promise. The doctors at the hospital uploaded a program to my 'tool that releases a set amount of medi-gel whenever I'm being active...what is active all depends on what my tool determines. So no, you didn't hurt me at all. I know you wouldn't either big guy, 'less I ask of course."

"Well you little pyjak", he murmured, accepting the kisses as her apology and ignoring her huff of indignation, dipping his head down and pressing his mandible to her cheek. "I'm glad you made it back to me in one piece."

"Well if there's one thing I can do...it's follow orders."