The next morning, Garrus stopped by to talk to Shepard as they approached Feros.
"Shepard, remember that Salarian geneticist I told you about?"
She nodded, brows furrowed.
"I've tracked him down. He's calling himself Dr. Heart now, some sort of twisted joke, he's on a ship in the Kepler Verge. If we hurry, we can catch him."
"Consider it done, Garrus." She brought up her omni-tool, "Joker – set a course for the coordinates Garrus sends you. We're taking a detour, then we'll be on our way to Feros." She shut it down and nodded at Garrus, "Should take us an hour to get there. Be ready."
He was relieved, "I am, and thanks Jane."
"Anything for my second in command."
Garrus got his armor on, his weapons readied.
On the ship, they fought their way through husks as they threw themselves at them. Garrus set his jaw, ready to face Dr. Saleon. The doors opened, a Salarian thanked them for rescuing him from the husks.
Garrus was thrilled, "That's him Shepard!"
Shepard looked at Garrus, "Are you sure?"
"Positive! I'd harvest your organs, Dr. Saleon, but we don't have the time."
Shepard picked up her gun and aimed as the Salarian protested vehemently. She put her gun down and looked at Garrus, "Put him out of his misery."
"Gladly." Garrus raised his sniper rifle and with one shot Dr. Saleon was dead.
"That was – satisfying." Garrus felt a twinge of anxiety for Shepard's reaction.
"Good – remember that. That's how it should be." She said.
Garrus looked at her with a new appreciation. It was nice working with a Spectre. It was nice working with her. Wrex looked through the remaining crates as Garrus and Shepard searched the room. Multicolored blood smears and puddles indicated he was continuing his work at organ harvesting.
"Glad we got him when we did. He wasn't ever going to stop." Shepard said, disgusted.
"If only they'd listened to me in the first place." Garrus said.
"Yea, at least we were able to remedy that." She put her hand on his shoulder, "Move out." And they left the ship.
Back on the Normandy, they walked down the stairs, discussing the mission. "Thanks, Shepard. I appreciate you taking the time out to take him down. He was a danger to the galaxy."
"More than that," she offered, "He was haunting you. You needed that closure."
"Yea, I suppose I did."
They walked around to the mess hall, Shepard making her way to her quarters. "I'll get out of my armor and reset for Feros." She spied Kaidan at the table, "Be ready, we'll be arriving in about an hour."
Kaidan nodded at her. She turned her attention back to Garrus, "Make sure to get those calibrations done today – We'll be stopping at different planets tomorrow – I've got to address some other issues I've been putting off."
"Sure thing, Jane." Garrus said, and walked around to the elevator.
Shepard went in her quarters, taking off her helmet and shaking out her hair. Suddenly Kaidan was behind her, he'd followed her in her quarters.
"What's going on between you two?" he pointed behind him.
"What are you talking about?"
"He's calling you Jane now?"
"Yea, because I asked him to. Look, Kaidan, if you're going to be the jealous type, this isn't going to work out." She walked over to him and put her hand on his face, "I've told you before, he's my best friend. It's different with you and me, but you can't make a scene in front of everybody. Fraternization is not taken lightly by the brass, and even though we're officially under the council, if Udina caught wind of it, one of us would be out, likely you."
Kaidan took a deep breath, "I know, I just. It's hard keeping it separate." He took her hand and kissed it.
She smiled down at him. He was so hot, she could imagine what he would look like naked, "Hey, why don't you get something to eat. It's going to be a tough mission, and I know how your biotics need the extra fuel. I have a feeling Feros won't have a lot of rations available."
"Good idea. I'll go to the mess and meet you at the docking door later." He smiled at her. His warm brown eyes made her melt. He turned and left. She sighed and pulled off her armor, sitting down to write a mission report to Captain Anderson.
Garrus worked at his computer station for the better part of the day while Shepard was out on Feros. He wanted to be ready to go with Shepard tomorrow like she'd asked. Late that night he made his way to the mess hall. He sat down next to Tali and they talked for a while, about being on the Normandy, their admiration for Shepard, their thoughts on recent missions. They talked about themselves a bit too, Garrus was interested in Tali's information on the Migrant Fleet. He'd never had an inside glimpse before.
Suddenly Shepard flew around the corner, still in her armor. "Shepard, how'd –" Garrus started, she stormed past him, Kaidan hot on her heels.
"Hey, wait-" Kaidan said, attempting to grab her arm.
She spun around and glared at him, silently she turned back around and went into her quarters. Kaidan tried to ping her door, then his omni-tool lit up and reading the message, he shut it down and slammed his fist against the wall. He stomped away towards the elevator. Tali turned to look at Garrus, "Wow, what was that all about?"
Garrus shook his head, "Looks like something went wrong on the mission." He looked around as the other crew in the mess hall were shaking their heads and whispering to each other about what they'd just seen.
Tali shook her head, "I just don't like him."
Garrus chuckled, "I thought I was the only one."
"No, I don't like his arrogance, and how he acts with Shepard, like he owns her."
Garrus was surprised, "You've seen that too?"
She nodded.
Garrus sighed, "I don't think Shepard sees it."
"Maybe she saw it today." Tali said pointedly. She got up, "See you later, Garrus. I think we're both slated for going out with her tomorrow. I'd better turn in, I've been having trouble getting a good night's sleep lately."
"Good talking to you, Tali." Garrus sat and nursed his drink. He wanted to go over to Shepard's door, but decided he needed to stay out of it. He finished and got up, taking his plates up to the kitchen. Shepard appeared around the corner, in her casuals, heading towards the kitchen. Garrus decided to give her some space, he could tell by her expression she was pissed. He put his dishes in the chute as he saw her grab a quick boxed meal out of the fridge. She breezed past him, then stopped, "You got a minute, Garrus?"
"Sure, Jane."
"Join me, would you?" she nodded towards her quarters.
Garrus walked behind her into her quarters as she shut the door behind them. She sat at the table and started eating her meal, "Sorry, I'm starved."
Garrus waived her off, "Don't worry about it. You forgot a drink." He got up and went to her cabinet and grabbed a water, handing it to her.
"Thanks," she took it and opened it, drinking half of it down.
"So, the mission. What happened?"
"Oh, the mission. Well, those colonists were in dire straits," she proceeded to talk to him about the geth infiltration on Feros, the Thorian creature, the cipher.
"Wow, that's kind of crazy."
"Yea, the colonists were being mind-controlled by it. When we killed it, they went berserk, attacking the ship."
Garrus looked puzzled, "We didn't notice anything."
"I told Joker to increase the shields. They were banging on the doors, the hull. There wasn't any real damage they could do, not without weapons." She pulled her fingers into a fist, "Anyway, I used a nerve gas to disable them, most of them, then we came back on the ship. I just finished sending off my report." She finished up her food.
Garrus watched her and waited. "What happened?"
She looked at him puzzled, "I just told you."
"No, with Alenko."
"Fuck, news travels fast."
"No, I was in the mess hall when you guys came back."
"Oh," she looked sheepish, "You saw that, did you?"
"Yes, I did."
"Well, I just got tired of his bullshit. I knew it would be a challenge taking him and Ashley along, and I was right. She was okay, really, she understands the chain of command. Kaidan, he just, ugh." She stood up and starting pacing her quarters.
"I don't mind my crew offering suggestions, or questioning my ideas, but he just makes a decision and acts on it regardless. I wanted to disable the colonists, and told them both several times that was the plan. Ash held her fire, but Kaidan took two colonists out as I was trying to throw the gas grenades at them. He killed them unnecessarily and jeopardized the mission. He disobeyed a direct order, and do you know what his excuse was?" she looked at Garrus, face flushed with anger.
"That he was trying to protect you."
She looked at him incredulously, "Yes, how did you know?"
"Just a hunch."
"While I appreciate the sentiment, I don't appreciate his disrespect of my position."
Garrus shifted in his seat, "It's more than that, though, isn't it. He's thinking of what he wants, what he needs, not you."
She looked down, "Yea, you're right. I've just got to, well, keep things professional. What a mess. I don't like being controlled like that. I feel like it's an insult to who I am."
Garrus nodded, "Agreed."
She smiled at him. "Thanks for talking with me Garrus."
"That's what best friends are for, right?"
She beamed, "Yup."
Garrus stared at her. Her curls were coming loose out of her bun, her pale skin and red lips in a smile for him, she was beautiful. He felt a jolt shoot through him. He cleared his throat, "Well, tomorrow comes early. I'd better get some sleep."
She put her hand on his shoulder as he left her quarters. "Did you get all those calibrations done today?"
"Yes, completed."
"Great, I knew you would. You'll be a big help tomorrow. I'm lost out there without your superior sniping skills." She opened the door.
Garrus walked outside her door, "Get some rest, Jane."
She smiled, "This is like déjà vu."
"Like what?"
"Déjà vu, that we've done this before." She leaned in the doorway.
"Hmm. Yes." He leaned in a bit and took in her scent. He collected himself and backed away, "See you in the morning."
"Make that early afternoon. We're up late tonight."
The doors shut and Garrus went towards the elevator. Once inside, he rubbed his face in his taloned hands. He was falling for her and he didn't know what to do about it. He'd never considered interspecies relations before, he couldn't believe he was thinking about it now. He couldn't deny he was sexually attracted to her.
"Vakarian?"
He looked up to see the elevator doors open and Ashley standing in front of him.
"Oh, sorry." He walked out past her and went to the cot he'd set up in the back of cargo bay. Wrex had done the same, they were both too big to fit into the sleeping pods the rest of the human crew used.
As the weeks went by, they got closer, spending more time together on missions and on the Normandy. Garrus could tell things had cooled off with Kaidan, he noticed she was polite but professional with him. He was secretly thrilled she had finally seen Alenko's true colors.
The missions progressed with the crew coming together as a team, successfully getting closer to Saren. They had just completed a mission on an Asteroid, and Shepard let the terrorist go to save the people on the station who were locked in with the bomb.
"I'm going to catch up to that bastard Balek someday." She told him, leaning on the Mako.
"I know that was tough, but you made the right decision." Garrus said.
"It will haunt me how many more lives I've put at risk by letting him go." She looked down.
"How much would it have haunted you watching those people get incinerated in front of you, knowing you had sentenced them to death?"
"True. You know me well, Garrus."
"I like to think so." He stood up and faced her. "So what's on the agenda tomorrow?"
"Virmire. We've got to see what Saren's up to out there."
"Should I clean my rifle?"
"Of course. I'm taking you and Wrex. See you in the morning?"
"You bet." He watched as she hesitated, like she wanted to say something else, but she turned and walked over to talk to Ashley. They'd become friends as well, what was it she called it? Girl talk. He watched as they talked animatedly, laughing. Ashley looked over at him and Shepard turned to lock eyes with Garrus. They both giggled, then turned back. Garrus shook his head. She'd figured out how astute his hearing was, so they were keeping their voices low. He finished his work on the Mako, it seemed to be a continuous job with the way Shepard drove it. Ashley had come around somewhat with her feelings towards aliens. No doubt, Garrus thought, largely due to Shepard's influence. They'd had a few good conversations, and Ashley had even helped him once with the Mako.
Shepard finished talking to Ash and stopped again by Garrus' computer station, "I'll see you tomorrow." She said and patted his arm as she walked away.
Garrus took a close look at her, she looked stressed, and pale. He frowned. She left up the elevators, and he finished up the computations he was working on and went up the elevator to medbay.
"Officer Vakarian, pleased to see you. Is there something I can do for you?" broke into a smile.
"I hope I'm not out of line, but it's Shepard. I think the stress of the mission is getting to her, physically and mentally. I wanted to get your advice on what you think I could do to help her out."
"Hm. I think you already do help her out by being such a good friend to her, giving her advice."
"Yes, but something more. Is there some medicine I can get her, some food or drink – I don't know much about what helps humans."
Dr. Chakwas walked over to her cabinet and got a pill, "You can give her this, it helps with headache. Um, you could get her a snack out of the kitchen, and – oh, here's some cream." She walked back to her supplies, "Yes, this will work." She handed it to him.
He looked at it blankly, "What do I do with this?"
"You could give her a massage with it. Rub it on her shoulders, her feet. Humans find touch very soothing, and the texture of your hands would actually make it more intense."
Garrus balked, "I don't know, that's pretty personal."
Dr. Chakwas shrugged, "You can offer, and if she's not comfortable with it, she'll let you know."
Garrus took a deep breath, "I want to help her, do you think it would be appropriate?"
Dr. Chakwas gave him a warm smile, "Give it a try. Even just knowing you are thinking about her will make her feel better."
Garrus turned and left medbay, making his way over to her door pinging it.
"Enter." He heard her tired voice call out.
Garrus came in and she was sitting on her bed in her tank top and cargo pants, smiling weakly. "Hey, Garrus."
"Hey." He walked over and sat on her bed, "I noticed you're feeling kind of run down, and I'm worried about you."
She leaned her head against his arm, "I'll be okay."
"Well, I've got this for you," he handed her the medicine, "Dr. Chakwas said this will help with headache."
She took the pill and reached over her nightstand for her water and took it.
"And, I was wondering if I could get you snack from the kitchen."
"You know, I could eat a little something, that would be nice."
Garrus jumped up, "I'll be right back." He put the cream on her table and left for the kitchen. He grabbed some cheese and fruit and quickly made his way back to her quarters.
"Will this work?"
"Yes, thanks." She took the food and started eating as Garrus grabbed a napkin off her table and brought it over to her.
She took a bite of apple and grinned at him, "Why do you take such good care of me?"
"Because I care about you."
"That's a good feeling. I wish I could do something nice for you."
"Saving the galaxy is a big help. Also – that nice armor you bought me last week. I know that was expensive."
"I want to make sure you are well protected. I can't risk anything happening to you."
He nodded and watched as she continued to eat, finishing off the cheese. "So, what's that?" she said pointing to the container on the table.
"Oh, that." Garrus had forgotten. "Um, that's something Dr. Chakwas gave me." He walked over and took the small glass cylinder back as he sat next to her. "It's lotion, she said it's used in massage to help relieve stress."
Shepard stopped mid-chew, "Are you serious?"
"I, uh," Garrus felt embarrassed.
"That's awesome!" wide-eyed, she finished up the food in her hand, "Where do you want me to sit?"
"Oh, well, that depends on what you want me to massage, your back or your feet."
"You would really massage my feet? That wouldn't like, gross you out or anything?"
"Why? Are they gross?" he looked down at them.
"Well, no, but they're different from you. They're clean, I just showered," she offered.
Garrus laughed, "Then scoot up the bed and I'll see what I can do. No guarantees, you'll have to tell me how to do it, it's my first time."
Shepard wriggled up to the top of the bed, propping herself up on her pillow. Garrus opened the lid and got some cream on his hands as Shepard put one foot on top of his leg.
"Start with this one." She said gleefully.
He rubbed the cream over her skin, then vigorously rubbed his hands up and down her foot.
"No, not like that," she frowned, "rub it in little circles."
He tried, but could tell by her expression he wasn't doing it right. She leaned over and took his hand in hers, "Let me show you." She rubbed his hand, massaging his palm and over the joints.
"Like that, does that feel good?"
"Mmm, yes," Garrus purred.
She grinned, "Well, I think we found a stress reliever that works for both of us."
He opened his eyes and looked into hers, wanting to say something, but holding back. Remember, she's your Commander, he thought. It was getting more and more difficult to keep that in mind. She let go of his hand and moved back, propping her foot on his leg.
This time he dug into her feet with the pads of his talons, imitating the pressure she'd used on his hand. He could tell by her moans and movements he was more successful this time.
She held the back of her hand over her eyes, "Oh damn, yes, that feels so good." He continued to massage her foot, studying her pink skin, the smoothness. He took the other foot and using the cream massaged it for a while more. He noticed something on her leg and pulled up the hem of her pants up a little. He frowned as he saw a fresh burn scar.
"What's this?" he asked.
She looked down, "That, oh that's from a few days ago when we were on Edmos fighting all those Rachni. I got acid squirted at me too many times and it ate through my armor and got me." She caught the concerned look in his face, "It's okay, Dr. Chakwas has already healed most of it. It will scar, but it's no big deal."
He pulled her pant leg down to cover it up. He hated seeing her injured at all.
"How do Turians feel about scars? Is it like the Krogan, like a badge of honor?"
"Not really. It's not really seen as a big deal."
"It doesn't make me ugly to you?" she smiled.
He looked up at her, "Absolutely not."
"You're different, Garrus. Humans are much vainer."
"I'm starting to think you like the differences," Garrus said, rubbing a little harder on her feet.
She moaned, "Oh, yea, that's it right there."
He continued to massage her, being careful to avoid the chemical burn. Finishing, he put the cover on the cream and looked up at her calm, contented expression. "Did that help?"
"Holy hell, yes. Thank you so, so much. I can't remember when I was ever so relaxed." She moved her hand and looked at him, "You are a great friend, Garrus. You're so thoughtful."
"I'm glad it worked. I was a bit skeptical."
"Yes, and next time I'll massage you."
Garrus' mandibles fluttered, "Sure, I'd like that."
"You'll just have to let me know where."
He shook his head, "Yea, I'll give you a lesson on Turian anatomy."
She laughed, "I think I would like that."
He stood up to leave, "I'll be going, it's late. Get some good sleep."
"I will now, thanks to you."
Garrus left the lotion in her quarters and left, making his way down to Cargo bay. As he lay on his cot, he thought about how her skin felt on his hands, her delicious moans and groans. He thought about her comments, wondering if she was flirting with him or not. He turned over and let out a frustrated sigh. It was maddening, he felt tortured by his feelings, but unable to back out or stop them.