Jane stepped onto the cold ceramic tiles of the shower floor, her entire body felt like a shell; dead weight sitting on her soul. She turned the knob labeled with an H as far to the left as it would go, and the knob to the right, labeled with a C, was only turned an inch in the same direction. Hot water came instantly from the shower head and pelted her body with relief from the pain; from the stress; from the grief. So many things were about to unfold in just two hours' time. How was someone supposed to mentally prepare themselves for the possible death of all their friends and themselves? Of course she would do everything to protect them, even if it meant her own life, but a battle on this scale was unpredictable.
The shower only calmed her for a few moments before all those thoughts swarmed back in her head, and the pain from the Lazarus Project surged back through her bones. Any person with a weaker will than her would have never embarked on this mission, but she had to be strong for the sake of the galaxy. God knows she didn't want to be, right now all she wanted to do was go home to a family she didn't have, to a house she never owned, and to the memories she only wished for. Her ability to ignore all of these worries seemed inhuman, but every so often she grazed across the edge of all the emotions in her responsibilities, and she needed a nice shower to calm her. Another deep breath finally washed away those thoughts, and she focused back on the important matters; survival. Her mind briefly skimmed over the details before she decided that it was a useless endeavor to think about such things when everything involved was completely unknown to her, as well as the entire galaxy's living population.
After the typical wash and shave Shepard conducted in the shower, she stepped out onto the bathmat and quickly turned the knobs back to their original positions out of habit to reserve water, regardless of the fact that the water in the Normandy was continuously recycled. She pulled a towel off of the bathroom counter that she had set there just before her bath. She patted her face dry with the soft white fabric that was so kindly supplied by Cerberus. She looked at the mirror over her shoulder and could only see her faint outline in fogged over glass; she was thankful that she didn't have to look at the scars the Lazarus Project had left all over her body with the evil red glow. There was a knocking at the door outside, she looked up and quickened up her routine. "Come in… I'll be just a minute.." She said, rushing to cloth herself and come out looking somewhat presentable. She needed this time to blow off steam, more than what she thought she would have. She could have never imagined that her initial lust could have actually been helpful to her now, and she could share it with someone she trusted that probably needed it just as much as she. She stepped outside of the bathroom and looked at him while he waited nervously outside of her door. "Garrus…." She smiled at him.
