Shepard had been holding onto the sniper she picked up for him since that night. She didn't know if it would be even weirder now that they had… She decided she spent the 300,000 credits and god damn it, she was gonna get her monies worth. Making her way to Engineering gun in tow she grew anxious. When the doors opened she saw his familiar shape to the right by the Mako. His talons clicking away at the console no doubt calibrating something… No doubt avoiding her… She stood in the elevator clutching the gun watching him.

"Are you just gonna stand there all night, Shepard? You know I can smell you right?" He asked after a few minutes not turning to face her. His voice was playful and inviting, maybe he did want to see her after all.

"You can SMELL me? That's just creepy, Vakarian." She laughed standing behind him stiffly, feeling the rhythmic pounding in her chest.

Garrus finished up turning to face her. His face was light and his mandibles held lose to his face. He looked deeply into her eyes sending her stomach into knots. After a second he slid his eyes down to her hands where she gripped a Spectre requisition riffle. Her fingers were turning white from holding it so tightly. She let out the breath she had been holding, loosened her grip extending the gun to him. His mandibles twitches as his jaw lowered in surprise, eyes filling with confusion. She swallowed closing the space between them placing the gun into his hands. He looked down at it in a complete loss for words. He had known just how much these riffles cost… He knew how often he complained about his current sniper, but it was mostly out of fun. He never meant to make her feel obligated to replace it.

"I picked this up when we were on shore leave. I'd been meaning to give it to you earlier actually. It just didn't seem like the right time." She didn't look at him but kept her eyes glued to the riffle he now held.

"And now is?" His voice purred with slight suspicion as he studied her, noticing she wouldn't make eye contact.

"I think so, yeah." She nodded slowly, moving her eyes to meet his finally. "I got a bad feeling about this one, Garrus."

He didn't say anything. But as she said that he knew she was right. He felt it too. This mission was different. He didn't speak, just continued watching her carefully. It wasn't like her to talk like this. What did he know though, they hadn't really done a mission like this before had they? Plus, he had been distancing himself from her… He hoped that the space would help them focus on the mission. That maybe these feelings would go away, and they could just be friends again… Even though he wanted more. Even though he wanted her. Being alone with her now, proved the distance hadn't helped one bit. Actually... It probably made things worse.

"There's something big on Virmire. I can feel it. If something happens, I just wanted you to have it. I just wanted you to know that I'm proud of you. You've become a really close friend of mine… " They both stood there in silence and after a second her tone changed, it was lighter more like the Shepard he knew. "Plus, you've had that damn riffle for too long. It's time for a new one. I have more credits than I know what to do with. Please, just take it and shut up." She smiled her big smile.

Before he knew it he had reached out, grabbing the side of her neck and face lightly. Garrus pulled her close to him his mouth close to hers. The riffle slid from his fingers to the floor as he wrapped his other arm around her holding her closely. Their mouths almost touched... but instead he pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Garrus…" Shepard breathed into his chest heavily. "We…" She stopped when he tilted her neck up to face him again.

"Thank you, Jane." He leaned his forehead down to hers. They stood there silently embracing each other.